The Earliest Inhabitants: The Dynamics of the Jamaican Taino

The Earliest Inhabitants

The Earliest 

Inhabitants 

The Dynamics of the Jamaican Taíno 

Edited by 

Lesley-Gail Atkinson 

University of the West Indies Press 

Jamaica • Barbados • Trinidad and Tobago

University of the West Indies Press 

1A Aqueduct Flats Mona 

Kingston 7 Jamaica 

www.uwipress.com 

© 2006 by Lesley-Gail Atkinson 

All rights reserved. Published 2006 

10 09 08 07 06 5 4 3 2 1 

CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION DATA 

Earliest inhabitants: the dynamics of the Jamaican Taíno / edited by 


p. cm. 

Includes bibliographic references. 

ISBN: 976-640-149-7 

1. Taino Indians – Jamaica – Antiquities. 2. Indians of the West Indies – Jamaica – 

Antiquities. 3. Taino Indians – Jamaica – Ethnobotany. 4. Excavations (Archaeology) – 

Jamaica. 5. Indian pottery – Jamaica. 6. Jamaica – History. I. Atkinson, Lesley-Gail. 

F1875.E37 2006 972.92 

Cover illustration: Anna Ruth Henriques, Cocoa Zemi (2006). 

Reproduced with kind permission of the artist. 

Book and cover design by Robert Harris. 

E-mail: roberth@cwjamaica.com 

Set in AdobeCaslon 10.5/14.5 x 27 

Printed in the United States of America.

This book is dedicated to two men who have 

influenced my life tremendously. 

In loving memory of my 

grandfather, Ernest Aaron Adair, 

for loving me unconditionally, and for teaching me 

the significance of laughter. In my heart you’ll always 

be “my favourite guy”! 

and 

Dr James W. Lee, founder and past president 

of the Archaeological Society of Jamaica, 

for your decades of contribution to 

Jamaican archaeology, and for your 

initiative and extensive research, which laid the 

foundations for Jamaican prehistoric archaeology. 

Thank you!

Contents 

List of Illustrations / ix 

List of Tables / xii 

Preface / xiii 

Acknowledgements / xv 

Introduction / 1 

Section 1 Assessment and Excavation of Taíno Sites 

1 The Development of Jamaican Prehistory / 13 

William F. Keegan and Lesley-Gail Atkinson 

2 The Taíno Settlement of the Kingston Area / 34 

Philip Allsworth-Jones, Gerald Lalor, George Lechler, 

Simon F. Mitchell, Esther Z. Rodriques and Mitko Vutchkov 

3 The Pre-Columbian Site of Chancery Hall, St Andrew / 47 

Philip Allsworth-Jones, Anthony Gouldwell, George Lechler, 

Simon F. Mitchell, Selvenious Walters, Jane Webster 

and Robert Young 

4 Excavations at Green Castle, St Mary / 69 

Philip Allsworth-Jones and Kit Wesler 

5 The Impact of Land-Based Development on Taíno 

Archaeology in Jamaica / 75 

Andrea Richards 

Section 2 Taíno Exploitation of Natural Resources 

6 Notes on the Natural History of Jamaica / 89 

Wendy A. Lee

7 The Exploitation and Transformation of Jamaica’s 

Natural Vegetation / 97 


8 Early Arawak Subsistence Strategies: The Rodney’s House 

Site of Jamaica / 113 

Sylvia Scudder 

Section 3 Analysis of Taíno Archaeological Data 

9 Petrography and Source of Some Arawak Rock 

Artefacts from Jamaica / 131 

M. John Roobol and James W. Lee 

10 Jamaican Taíno Pottery / 146 

Norma Rodney-Harrack 

11 Jamaican Redware / 153 

James W. Lee 

12 Taíno Ceramics from Post-Contact Jamaica / 161 

Robyn P. Woodward 

Section 4 Taíno Art Forms 

13 The Petroglyphs of Jamaica / 177 

James W. Lee 

14 Zemís, Trees and Symbolic Landscapes: 

Three Taíno Carvings from Jamaica / 187 

Nicholas Saunders and Dorrick Gray 

References / 199 

Contributors / 214 

viii

Illustrations 

A.1 Map of the sites mentioned in the text / 4–5 

1.1 Irving Rouse’s chronology of the series and subseries of 

cultures in the West Indies / 21 

1.2 Ostionan pottery from Jamaica / 23 

1.3 Chican pottery from Hispaniola / 23 

1.4 Jamaican Meillacan boat-shaped vessel / 24 

1.5 Meillacan pottery from Haiti / 24 

1.6 Local styles in the Ostionan, Meillacan and 

Chican subseries / 25 

2.1 Taíno sites in the Kingston area / 35 

2.2 Histograms of the major elements in the pottery 

samples compared with the levels in the soils from the 

Kingston area / 43 

3.1 Taíno skulls in situ / 48 

3.2 Earthenware pot containing infant remains / 48 

3.3 Beads associated with the skull / 49 

3.4 JNHT excavations at Chancery Hall / 52 

3.5 Stratigraphy of Chancery Hall / 56 

4.1 Location of Green Castle / 70 

4.2 Green Castle contour map / 71 

4.3 Burial 1 / 73 

4.4 Burial 2 / 73 

5.1 Road cutting through Taíno site at Barbican, Hanover / 80 

5.2 Road cutting through a portion of the Toby Abbott 

Taíno site / 81 

5.3 Chancery Hall Taíno site, St Andrew / 83 

5.4 Long Mountain prior to development / 84 

5.5 Construction activity at the Long Mountain site / 84 

6.1 Jamaican hutia or coney / 95 

ix

6.2 Hawksbill turtle / 95 

7.1 Fernández de Oviedo’s illustration of Taínan caney / 101 

7.2 Dugout canoe from Black River, St Elizabeth / 102 

7.3 William Keegan explaining the use of the wild cane / 103 

7.4 Two-notched net sinkers / 104 

7.5 Four-notched net sinkers / 104 

7.6 The annatto plant / 104 

7.7 Members of the Paradise Park 2001 excavations measuring 

the Ceiba tree / 112 

9.1 Simplified geological map of Jamaica showing parishes / 134 

10.1 Redware, White Marl and Montego Bay styles / 147 

10.2 Normal boat-shaped vessel / 148 

10.3 Round vessel / 149 

10.4 Handled Taíno bowl / 150 

10.5 Handles, lugs and decorative motifs / 150 

10.6 Taíno bowl with hourglass-type handle / 151 

10.7 Laterally perforated handle / 151 

10.8 Ribbon decoration / 151 

10.9 Cross-hatch decoration / 152 

11.1 Map of Jamaican Redware sites / 154 

11.2 Burén rim profiles / 156 

11.3 Type I handles – plain “D” handles / 157 

11.4 Type II handles / 157 

11.5 Type III handles / 158 

11.6 Other handle variations / 158 

12.1 Map of St Ann’s Bay, Jamaica / 162 

12.2 Distribution of New Seville and Taíno ceramics / 165 

12.3 Meillac ware: (a) boat-shaped vessel; (b) round bowl / 166 

12.4 Rim profiles / 167 

12.5 Decorated rim sherds / 167 

12.6 Spouted bowl / 168 

12.7 Taíno water bottle / 168 

12.8 New Seville ware bowls / 169 

12.9 New Seville ware: (a) pitcher; (b) pedestal cup / 170 

12.10 New Seville ware: (a) cup; (b) spout jug / 170 

12.11 New Seville ware: jug / 171 

12.12 New Seville pedestal cup / 171 

13.1 Map of cave art sites / 178 

x 

I LLUSTRATIONS

13.2 Petroglyphs from Coventry and Cuckold Point / 180 

13.3 Petroglyphs from Gut River No. 1 / 180 

13.4 Petroglyphs from Reynold Bent, Milk River and 

near God’s Well / 180 

13.5 Petroglyphs at Canoe Valley / 181 

13.6 Petroglyphs at Canoe Valley / 181 

13.7 Pictographs at Spot Valley / 183 

14.1 Anthropomorphic figure from Aboukir (detail) / 188 

14.2 Anthropomorphic figure from Aboukir / 188 

14.3 Bird figure from Aboukir (frontal view) / 189 

14.4 Bird figure from Aboukir / 189 

14.5 Carved wooden zemí of a bird standing on the back of 

a turtle or tortoise / 189 

14.6 Small ladle/spoon with anthropomorphic handle, 

from Aboukir / 190 

14.7 Small ladle/spoon with anthropomorphic handle, 

from Aboukir / 190 

14.8 Carved wooden duho stool, Dominican Republic / 192 

I LLUSTRATIONS 

xi

Tables 

1.1 Midden Sites Reported by Robert Howard / 30 

1.2 Cave Sites Reported by Robert Howard / 32 

1.3 Cave Art Sites Reported by Robert Howard / 33 

2.1 Shells Collected from Chancery Hall / 39 

2.2 Neutron Activation Analysis of Pottery Samples / 42 

2.3 Taíno Sites in the Kingston Area / 45 

3.1 All Recovered Organic Materials / 60 

3.2 Size Distribution of Charcoal Fragments / 60 

3.3 Arthropod Remains / 61 

3.4 All Bone / 63 

3.5 Fish Bone / 64 

3.6 Mammalian Bone / 65 

5.1 Examples of Threats to Taíno Sites / 75 

5.2 Recorded Number of Destroyed Taíno Sites in Jamaica 

by Parish / 76 

6.1 Geologic Time and Corresponding Events in the 

Formation of the Island of Jamica / 90 

6.2 Main Soil Types of Jamaica and Associated Landforms / 91 

6.3 Total Number of Species / 94 

6.4 Numbers of Endemic Species / 96 

8.1 Significant Vertebrate and Crab Remains from the Rodney’s 

House Site / 117 

8.2 Faunal Comparisons / 123 

8.3 Rodney’s House Faunal List / 125 

9.1 Lithology of Arawak Petaloid Celts from Jamaica / 135 

9.2 Lithology of Petaloid Celts from Some Parishes 

of Jamaica / 142 

13.1 New Petroglyph/Pictograph Sites, 1952–1985 / 179 

13.2 Jamaican Petroglyph Sites by Parish / 185 

xii

Preface 

I HAVE ALWAYS been fascinated by prehistory. Even though I 

am a public archaeologist – and our research ranges from prehistoric settlements 

to World War II hangars – I have an unapologetic bias towards Taíno 

archaeology. I do not know if it is because my first dig was on a prehistoric site 

or because my maternal ancestors were Maroons, who are said to have integrated 

with the Taínos. Regardless of the reason, Taíno archaeology has 

become one of my special interests. 

The idea for this publication originated in 1998, when I was an assistant 

curator in the Museums Division at the Institute of Jamaica. I had recently 

been assigned the project of refurbishing the Taíno Museum at White Marl, 

St Catherine. During my research for the museum, I uncovered a lot of data 

on Jamaican prehistory – much of it unpublished and unfortunately not accessible 

to the public at large. I felt that a book on Jamaican prehistory was long 

overdue. 

Three years later, I was employed as an archaeologist at the Jamaica 

National Heritage Trust. As a consequence of my job, I faced constant complaints 

from Jamaicans, overseas archaeologists and enthusiasts about the 

inadequacy of publications on Jamaican archaeology. In addition, there were 

frequent questions as to whether there was any research being done on the 

island. I realized that the public was generally unaware. I knew that different 

projects were taking place, and I was allowed to participate in many of them, 

but that was mainly as a result of my job. I strongly believe that archaeology 

belongs to the public and not solely to archaeologists. The knowledge and 

the artefacts do not belong to the Jamaica National Heritage Trust or the 

Institute of Jamaica, but to the people of Jamaica. It is their heritage. 

Jamaicans are very proud. Like a real Jamaican, I took my pride – and at 

times my embarrassment – and decided to undertake this ambitious project. I 

thought an edited volume would be ideal, as it would give various archaeologists 

an opportunity to discuss their research projects. I formulated a proposed 

structure for the text and contacted various people locally and overseas. I am 

happy to say that most of them liked the idea and were glad to contribute to 

xiii

the publication. The project took almost fifteen months to complete, and at 

times I felt my ambition almost outdid me. This volume does not pretend to 

be a comprehensive depiction of Jamaican prehistory, but it is a starting point, 

and it aims to fill some of the gaps in Jamaican archaeology. 


xiv 

P REFACE

Acknowledgements 

I WOULD FIRST like to express my gratitude to all the contributors 

to this publication: Philip Allsworth-Jones, Dorrick Gray, William F. 

Keegan, Gerald Lalor, George Lechler, James W. Lee, Wendy A. Lee, Simon 

F. Mitchell, Andrea Richards, Norma Rodney-Harrack, M. John Roobol, 

Esther Z. Rodriques, Nicholas Saunders, Sylvia Scudder, Mitko Vutckhov, 

Selvenious Walters, Kit Wesler and Robyn Woodward. I would especially 

like to thank Philip Allsworth-Jones and my “left hand”, Andrea Richards, 

who were tremendously supportive throughout the entire process. There are 

several people – Debra-Kay Palmer, Basil Reid, Betty Jo Stokes and Peter 

Harris – who were asked to contribute to the text but were unable to do so 

for various reasons; nevertheless, I would like to thank them for their support 

of the project. 

The text includes six reprinted articles; therefore, permission had to be 

obtained from various organizations. I thank the Anthropological Research 

Papers, Arizona State University; La Fundación Arqueológica, Antropológica 

e Histórica de Puerto Rico; Antiquity; the Archaeological Museum of Aruba; 

and the Archaeological Society of Jamaica. I would like to specifically 

acknowledge Emily Lundberg, Arminda Ruiz, Raymondo Dijkhoff and Jay 

Haviser of the International Association of Caribbean Archaeology for their 

assistance. I am also grateful to the Institute of Jamaica, the Jamaica Bauxite 

Institute and the Archaeological Society of Jamaica for their permission to 

publish and reprint several photographs and illustrations. 

Several people have been extremely helpful, providing insight, advice and 

assistance, in particular Ambassador Peter King, Verene A. Shepherd, James 

Robertson, Patrick Bryan, F. Roy Augier, Marlon Manborde and John 

Thaxter. Special thanks to the invaluable Karen Spence and the incredible 

Ainsley Henriques. In addition, I would like to thank Dayne Buddho, Lauris 

Codlin and Tyrone Barnett of the Institute of Jamaica for their assistance. I 

must acknowledge the support of my other “family”, the staff of the 

Archaeology Division of the Jamaica National Heritage Trust, in particular 

Audene Brooks, Ann-Marie Howard-Brown, Rosemarie Whittaker, Colleen 

xv

McGeachy, Michelle Topping, Ava Tomlinson, Evelyn Thompson, Jasinth 

Williams and June Heath. 

I am gratefully indebted to Linda Speth, Shivaun Hearne, Dionne 

Williams, Claudette Upton and the team at the University of the West Indies 

Press for their interest, patience and assistance throughout this project. A 

renowned Jamaican politician once said that “it takes cash to care”; funding is 

necessary for any publication, and this book is no exception. I would like to 

take this opportunity to thank my sponsors, the City of Kingston Cooperative 

Credit Union, the Shipping Association of Jamaica and Karen Adair. Without 

their contributions this publication would not have been a reality. 

I wish to acknowledge my family for their encouragement and tolerance 

during this endeavour: my grandmother Dorothy Adair, my aunts Karen 

Adair and Millicent Lynch, my father, Lodric Atkinson, and my mother, 

Annette Adair-Hill. Finally, grateful thanks to my friends and special cheerleading 

squad – Tyrone Grandison, Andree Holness, Gifford Rankine, 

Cherena Forbes, Howard Dawkins, Susan Chung and Velmore Coke. 

xvi 

A CKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Introduction 

IN JAMAICA, THE indigenous population is still being referred 

to as the Arawaks, despite the adoption of the term Taínos to distinguish the 

native population of the Greater Antilles from the Arawaks of South 

America. Irving Rouse defines the Taínos as “the ethnic group that inhabited 

the Bahamian Archipelago, most of the Greater Antilles, and the northern 

part of the Lesser Antilles prior to and during the time of Columbus” (1992, 

185). 

According to Rouse, in Columbus’s time the Taínos lacked an overall 

name. The people referred to themselves by the names of the localities in 

which they lived – for example, the Puerto Ricans called themselves 

Borinquen, their name for the island, and the Bahamians called themselves 

Lucayo (Rouse 1992, 5). This raises the question of what was the Taínan name 

for Jamaica. Traditionally Jamaicans have been taught that Xaymaca was the 

Taíno name given to the island, meaning “land abounding with springs”, from 

which “Jamaica” – land of wood and water – was derived. However, D.J.R. 

Walker suggests Yamaye as the possible Taíno name for the island, based on 

information derived from Columbus’s journal (1992, 236–37). 

The Arawaks or Taínos 

The term Arawaks has been, and still is, mistakenly used to denote the aborigines 

of the Greater Antilles and the Bahamas. The Arawaks were the ethnic 

group that lived in the northern part of the Guianas, which formerly extended 

onto the high land around the Orinoco delta (Rouse 1992, 173). According to 

John Peter Bennett, the Arawaks had names for themselves and their language, 

Lokono and Loko respectively (Bennett 1989, iv). For decades the terms 

Arawak and Taíno have been used interchangeably; however, they are two 

distinct ethnic groups. 

It is not clear when the confusion occurred. However, one contributing factor 

was the attribution of the name of a language family to an ethnic group 

(Rouse 1987). The Taínan language is said to belong to the Arawakan 

1

language family tree. According to Rouse, linguists now believe that the 

Taíno, Island-Carib and Arawak languages diverged from the main line of 

Arawakan development at the same late date and that all three belong in the 

Maipuran subfamily (Rouse 1986, 120–23; Oliver 1989, 105). 

Previously the Taínos were referred to as Island Arawaks; in fact, D.J.R. 

Walker still uses this term (1992). Rouse demonstrates that this is another 

source of the misnomer: 

Daniel G. Brinton (1871) preferred to call the group Island Arawak because it 

shared many linguistic and cultural traits with the Arawak Indians (also known 

as Lokonos), whose descendants still live in northeastern South America. His 

followers shortened the phrase to Arawak. That was a mistake. (1992, 5) 

In the essay, “On the Meaning of the Term Arawak”, Rouse (1972) argues 

that neither Columbus nor any of his counterparts came across the word 

Arawak: “These Indians in the Greater Antilles are now known as ‘Arawaks’, 

but they themselves did not use that name, nor did Columbus and his contemporaries 

ever come across it, as far as it is known.” Rouse adds that Arawak 

does not appear in the literature until the exploration of the Guianas that 

began in the late 1500s, almost a century after the arrival of Columbus in the 

New World. 

Centuries later, in 1894, Juan Lopez de Velasco noted the presence of people 

who called themselves Arawaks on the Guiana coast, southeastern 

Trinidad, and commented that a group of them had “intruded” into Trinidad. 

Sir Walter Raleigh confirmed these statements and in 1928 included the 

Aruacos in a list of five Indian “nations” that inhabited Trinidad ( Jane 1988). 

Ethnohistorians merged the groups of people who inhabited the Greater 

Antilles into one group – the Taíno – as they shared a single language and had 

the same culture (Rouse 1992, 5). Taíno, which means “good” or “noble”, was 

chosen because several of its members spoke that word to Columbus to indicate 

that they were not Island Caribs (Alegría 1981). Andres Bernaldez 

explains: 

On the day when they came down the coast, there were many men and women 

together, on the shore near the water, wondering at the fleet and marvelling 

greatly at a thing so novel, and when a boat came to shore to have speech with 

them they said, “Taínon, Taínon,” “good, good”. ( Jane 1988) 

Since the 1980s the term Taínos has been accepted in Caribbean archaeology. 

In his article “Whom Did Columbus Discover in the West Indies?” 

Rouse (1987) suggested that the commonly used name Arawak be replaced 

with the name Taínos when discussing native West Indians at the time of 

contact. 

It is important to note that throughout this volume, the reader will 

2 T HE E ARLIEST I NHABITANTS

encounter the term Arawaks used to describe the Jamaican Taíno culture. 

These references are presented in their original context, as most of the literature 

assumed that the indigenous population of Jamaica was Arawak. 

The Jamaican Taínos 

It is believed that Jamaica was colonized after AD 600 by ancestors of the 

Taíno, the Ostionoid culture (Rouse 1992). At present, two of the earliest 

known sites on the island are Little River, St Ann, and Alligator Pond 

(Bottom Bay), Manchester, dated AD 650 ± 120 (Vanderwal 1968a) (see 

Figure A.1, nos. 89 and 4). These sites have been characterized as belonging 

to the Ostionan Ostionoid subseries (Rouse 1992) or, as it is called locally, 

Redware – a name reflecting its bright red ceramics. James W. Lee has published 

articles on the Redware culture in Archaeology Jamaica (see Lee 1980c, 

reprinted in this volume). 

James Lee noticed that the Redware culture preferred coastal settlements 

and illustrated that all but two of the eleven Redware sites highlighted in 1980 

were directly on the seashore (ibid.). The two exceptions were located about 

1 km inland. Preliminary observations indicate that most of the present 

Redware sites are located at elevations of 0 to 15 m above sea level. These sites 

are also near the sea or a river source such as Alligator Pond, St Elizabeth, and 

Alloa, St Ann, suggesting a dependence on marine resources (Atkinson 2003, 

8) (see Figure A.1, nos. 3 and 5). This reliance on the marine environment was 

highlighted at the Ostionan site at Paradise Park, Westmoreland (Keegan 

2002). According to William Keegan (personal communication, 2001), the 

Ostionan deposit contains mostly sea turtles, freshwater turtles, large fish 

and shellfish (notably conch) from the seagrass environment. However, in 

Jamaica, traditional research on this cultural period has concentrated mainly 

on its ceramics and on comparisons with the Meillacan culture. 

About three hundred years later another culture, categorized by Rouse 

(1992) as the Meillacan Ostionoid, settled on the island. The Meillacan culture, 

which is also referred to as the White Marl style after the largest Meillac 

site on the island, dated from AD 877 ± 95 to AD 1490 ± 120 (Silverberg, 

Vanderwal and Wing 1972). Traditionally, it was felt that the Ostionans were 

colonized by the Meillacans and absorbed into the latter cultural group, and 

the Ostionan period was believed to have ended around AD 900. However, 

recent archaeological investigations at the Sweetwater and Paradise sites at 

Paradise Park, Westmoreland (see Figure A.1, no. 119), and other sites across 

the island have indicated that the two groups possibly co-inhabited the island. 

The settlement patterns of the Meillacans were more diverse than those 

of the Ostionans; they settled on the coast but also penetrated the interior as 

I NTRODUCTION 

3

Figure A.1 Map of the sites mentioned in the text 

1. Aboukir (Image 

Cave) 

2. Alexandria 

3. Alligator Pond 

(Alligator Pond 

River) 

4. Alligator Pond 

(Bottom Bay) 

5. Alloa 

6. Armordale 

7. Auchindown 

8. Baalbec Cave 

9. Barbican 

10. Bellevue 

11. Bellevue 

12. Bengal 

13. Beverly Hills 

14. Billy Bay 

15. Black River (Black 

River West) 

16. Bloxblurgh 

17. Bluefields 

18. Bossue 

19. Bull Savannah 

20. Byndloss Mountain 

(Riverhead) 

21. Calabash Bay 

22. California 

23. Cambridge Hill 

Cave 

24. Canoe Valley 

25. Canoe Valley Caves 

26. Carpenter’s 

Mountain 

27. Caymanas Bay 

28. Chancery Hall 

29. Cinnamon Hill 

30. Clitos Point 

31. Coleraine 

32. Cousins Cove 

33. Coventry 

34. Cranbrook 

35. Creighton Hall 

36. Cuckold Point 

37. Cuckold Point Cave 

38. Culloden 

39. Dover 

40. Downtown 

Kingston 

41. Drummond 

42. Dryland (Image 

Cave) 

43. Duckenfield 

44. Duff House 

45. East Jackson Bay 

Cave 

46. Fairfield (Fairfield 

View) 

47. Ferry Hill 

48. Flint River 

49. Fort Charles 

50. Fort Charles- 

Nembhard 

51. Fort Haldane 

52. Fort Nugent 

53. Freetown 

54. Friendship 

55. God’s Well 

56. Great Goat Island 

57. Great Goat Island 

Cave 

58. Great Pedro Bay 

59. (Great) Salt Pond 

60. Green Castle 

61. Green Hill 

62. Green Island 

63. Greenwich Park 

64. Gut River # 1 

65. Halberstadt 

66. Harbour View 

67. Harmony Hall 

68. Haughton Hall 

69. Holmes Bay 

70. Hope 

71. Hope Mine 

72. Hope Tavern 

73. Hounslow 

74. Image Cave 

75. Inverness 

76. Ipswich 

77. Iter Boreale 

78. Ivor (Iver) 

79. Jacks Hill 

80. Jackson’s Bay Cave 

81. Jackson’s Bay 

82. Kempshot 

83. Kew 

84. Knapdale 

(Knapville) 

85. Liberty Hill 

86. Little Bay Cave 

87. Little Miller’s Bay 

88. Llanrumney 

89. Little River 

4

90. Long Acre Point 

91. Long Mountain 

92. Mahogany Hill 

93. Mammee Hill 

94. Marlie Mount 

95. Milk River Spa 

96. Molynes Mountain 

97. Mona 

98. Montego Bay Point 

99. Montego Bay 

100. Mosquito Cove 

101. Mount Rosser 

102. Mount Salem 

103. Mountain River 

Cave 

104. Naggo(s) Head 

105. Negril 

106. New Forest 

107. New Ground 

108. New Market 

109. Newfound River 

110. Newry 

111. Norbrook 

112. Oakes 

113. Old Harbour 

114. Old Harbour Hill 

115. Orange Valley 

116. Pantrepant East 

117. Pantrepant West 

118. Paradise 

119. Paradise Park 

120. Parchment 

(Parchment Cave) 

121. Pedro 

122. Pepper 

123. Plantation 

Heights 

124. Port Antonio 

125. Port Henderson 

126. Portland 

127. Portland Cave 

128. Portland Ridge 

129. Portland Ridge 

Cave 

130. Prospect 

131. Red Bank 

132. Rennock Lodge 

133. Retreat (Little 

Nigger Ground) 

134. Reynold Bent 

135. Rhodes Hall 

136. Rio Bueno 

137. Rio Nuevo 

138. Rodney’s House 

139. Round Hill 

140. Round Hill B 

New Ridge 

141. Rowe’s Corner 

142. Rozelle 

143. Rozelle Falls 

144. Runaway Bay 

145. Salisbury 

146. Salt River 

147. Sandy Bank 

148. Scarborough 

149. Seven Mile Hill 

150. Seville 

151. Shaw 

152. Sommerville Cave 

153. Spot Valley 

154. Spotty Hill 

155. Spring 

156. St Jean D’Acre 

157. Stewart Castle 

158. Stony Hill 

159. Sugar Loaf Hill 

160. Taylor’s Hut Cave 

# 2 

161. Tobolski 

162. Toby Abbot 

163. Tower Hill (Dallas 

Castle) 

164. Treasure Beach 

165. Two Sister’s Cave 

166. Tydenham 

167. Upper Retirement 

168. Upton 

169. Vere 

170. Wales 

171. Walkerswood 

172. Wallman Town 

173. Wareika Hill 

174. Warminister 

175. Waterloo 

176. White Marl 

177. Williamsfield 

178. Windsor 

179. Windsor Great 

Cave 

180. Worthy Park # 1 

181. Worthy Park # 2 

182. Yardley Chase 

(Lover’s Leap) 

5

far inland as Ipswich, St Elizabeth, the Worthy Park sites and Mount Rosser 

in St Catherine (see Figure A.1, nos. 76, 180, 181 and 101). They did not, 

however, settle in the interior mountain range. It is the general consensus 

among Jamaican archaeologists that Taíno sites have the best views. As their 

sites are generally panoramic – located overlooking the landscape – it is not 

known whether the purpose was defensive or aesthetic. The present research 

has illustrated that the Meillacans or White Marl culture were not as dependent 

on marine resources as the Ostionans. Although there is evidence that 

the Jamaican Redware culture cultivated cassava, it seems that the White Marl 

group was more dependent on agrarian resources. 

The prehistoric culture that we call the Taíno developed about AD 1200. 

Samuel Wilson states that it is difficult to mark the “beginning” of the Taíno 

(1997b). Their society emerged as a continuation of the cultural development 

that had characterized Caribbean history for several thousand years. Wilson 

explains that the Taínos 

played the same ball game as their predecessors; their settlements were similar, 

although larger and more numerous; and their religious beliefs and rituals were 

related to those of their Saladoid and Archaic predecessors. In some cases, their 

pottery was different from Ostionoid ceramics in form, style, and decoration, 

but in other instances not. (ibid.) 

In the past, the Jamaican Taíno were described as having sub-Taíno cultural 

traits (Lovén 1935); however, this terminology is no longer used. The term 

Western Taínos is now used by Rouse and other scholars to describe the Taíno 

culture of Jamaica, central Cuba, and the Bahamas (Rouse 1992, 17). The 

term is indicative of a culture less developed than that of the Classic Taínos 

of Hispaniola and Puerto Rico. Despite being characterized as less advanced, 

the Jamaican Taínos displayed certain similarities to the Classic Taínos, in 

terms of population density, agriculture and class system (Rouse 1948, 1992). 

Regardless of whether it is classified as Western or Classic Taíno, Jamaican 

cultural development was autonomous with respect to the other islands. This 

could be a result of its isolated southward location within the Greater Antilles 

(Walker 1992). 

Jamaican prehistory is regarded as one of the least studied Caribbean disciplines. 

That is not necessarily the case; the fact is that published Jamaican 

archaeological research has not had sufficient international circulation. This 

has resulted in misconceptions about lack of scope, research activities and 

information on the Jamaican Taínos. These misconceptions are discussed and 

countered in Keegan and Atkinson’s chapter in this volume. As early as 1897, 

J.E. Duerden published an excellent compilation on Jamaican prehistory, 

which included various sites and research on the island’s Taíno artefacts. 

The mid-1960s saw the creation of two important forums for archaeolog- 


ical publication in Jamaica. Geologist James W. Lee established the 

Archaeological Society of Jamaica (ASJ) in 1965. Since then, Lee and other 

ASJ members have conducted extensive research on Jamaica prehistory, which 

was frequently published in the society’s newsletter Archaeology Jamaica. In 

1967, the Institute of Jamaica began publishing Jamaica Journal, which has 

been an essential medium for promoting current archaeological research in 

Jamaica. 

Factors Affecting Jamaican Taíno Research 

In the past fifty years, Jamaican archaeology has undergone significant developments: 

the establishment of the Archaeology Division ( Jamaica National 

Heritage Trust [ JNHT]), the introduction of archaeology at the University of 

the West Indies in 1987, and improvements in the training of Jamaican 

archaeologists. The past decade has seen increased interest in Jamaican Taíno 

archaeology and promotion of it via international archaeological associations. 

Despite these advances, research in Jamaican prehistory is negatively affected 

by limited resources, a shortage of personnel, poor attitudes towards conservation, 

the improper monitoring of the island’s archaeological resources, and 

the great evil – ignorance. These factors affect the investigation, recovery, and 

interpretation of Jamaica’s prehistory, and its context within the island’s 

archaeological development. 

The lack of resources for archaeological investigations is a critical, even 

paralysing factor. It affects the training of staff, the acquisition of essential 

equipment and the comprehensive investigation of sites. Archaeological 

investigations are expensive and time-consuming, and this poses a problem for 

developers, the general public, administrators and even some personnel within 

the JNHT. 

Manpower is a serious problem in Jamaica, despite its having the largest 

contingent of professional archaeologists in the English-speaking Caribbean. 

At present the severely short-handed staff at the Archaeology Division of the 

JNHT cannot cope with the needs of the island’s archaeological resources – 

it is physically impossible. In addition, because of the various development 

projects taking place on the island, the JNHT is forced to conduct primarily 

watching briefs and rescue operations, leaving little room for academic investigations 

and long-term research. 

Responsibility for the protection, preservation, promotion and study of 

Taíno sites and artefacts is shared among the JNHT, the National Environmental 

and Planning Agency and the University of the West Indies. However, 

there is limited collaboration between the JNHT and other government agencies 

such as the Department of Mines and Geology, the Ministry of Land and 

I NTRODUCTION 

7

8 T HE E ARLIEST I NHABITANTS 

Development and the National Works Agency. Better interaction and collaboration 

between the JNHT and these government agencies would bring about 

an improvement in both the circulation of information and the facilities and 

resources available. 

More collaboration is essential given the island’s increased pace of development. 

The threat of development on Taíno sites is a matter of concern that 

Andrea Richards addresses in this volume. Two examples are Seville, St Ann, 

and Rio Nuevo, St Mary (see Figure A.1, nos. 150 and 137), both important 

Taíno centres mentioned in the Spanish chronicles. These sites face destruction 

despite archaeologists’ efforts, demonstrating the need for more controlled 

development and for the implementation of an archaeological policy. 

In Jamaica, more attention needs to be paid to Taíno artefacts – their recovery, 

treatment, storage and research. Despite the presence of qualified archaeological 

conservators in the island, the importance of conservation is not 

completely appreciated. This is a problem not only for Taíno research but for 

Jamaican archaeology in general. At present, the focus is mainly on interventive 

conservation – treating artefacts chemically. But conservation, which is 

required for an artefact’s physical welfare, should begin with the environment 

from which the artefact is recovered – meaning that conservators should frequently 

be present in the field. Conservation does not begin in the lab but on 

the first day the project is considered, so that danger to artefacts is minimized. 

Pottery, for example – the most abundant type of Taíno artefact recovered in 

Jamaica – is sometimes found to have been incompletely fired and thus 

requires special handling, particularly in the field. Because of the absence of 

conservators in the field, by the time an artefact enters the lab, the conservators 

can sometimes do nothing more than damage control. At the other end 

of the spectrum is storage of artefacts, which is also crucial to conservation. 

These are matters that preventive conservation addresses. Unfortunately, the 

preventive approach has not been widely implemented. Jamaican conservators 

are concerned that the focus on interventive methods results in a loss of information 

that can be gained from an artefact, because the interventive methods 

essentially constitute tampering with the artefact. 

Another matter of concern is the monitoring of the material culture in the 

island. Over the years many people have acquired private collections of Taíno 

artefacts. In the absence of effective legislation prohibiting the collection of 

artefacts by private individuals, what is needed is an inventory of these private 

collections, so at least researchers can get a clear idea of what cultural 

material has been recovered from what areas across the island. Unfortunately, 

in Jamaica a substantial portion of the island’s archaeological collections has 

been obtained from surface collections rather than controlled excavations, 

which means that provenance is not known for many artefacts in these

collections. Knowledge of the provenance or context of an artefact or feature 

is critical in archaeology, as it makes possible identification of associated artefacts 

or features, establishment of the chronology of the stratum or site, and 

educated assumptions about the site’s function. 

Archaeology is renowned as an interdisciplinary subject. The Jamaican 

archaeological research establishment needs to embrace the various scientific 

techniques available in the island. At the University of the West Indies, the 

International Centre for Environmental and Nuclear Sciences offers analytic 

techniques such as neutron activation analysis (NAA), X-ray diffraction and 

X-ray fluorescence, which can help archaeological data reveal more information. 

However, the high cost of scientific analytical tools limits their application 

in Jamaican archaeological investigations. This is especially apparent in 

regard to radiocarbon (C 14 ) dating, as this method is only available overseas 

and is extremely expensive. 

Publication of archaeological research is a serious matter. The JNHT, as the 

agency in charge of research and protection of the island’s archaeological 

resources, needs to produce and encourage more publications, and to conduct 

its own research on Taíno archaeology. At present the research on Jamaican 

Taíno archaeology, with the exception of rescue archaeology, is being conducted 

by the University of the West Indies and overseas archaeologists. 

Jamaica’s prehistory needs to be studied in relation to the developments taking 

place in the wider Caribbean and not as an isolated phenomenon. 

It is difficult, in a developing country like Jamaica, to see the importance of 

the island’s archaeological heritage when the country is burdened with debt 

and essential socioeconomic matters demand attention and action. In Jamaica 

the preservation of culture is not considered important outside of the possibility 

of economic gain. As we move into the twenty-first century, archaeologists, 

conservators and cultural resource personnel need to come together and 

address these issues. 

This book, The Earliest Inhabitants: The Dynamics of the Jamaican Taíno, 

seeks to promote Jamaican Taínan archaeology and highlights the variety of 

the research conducted on the island’s prehistoric sites and artefacts. The text 

consists of a compilation of fourteen papers – six reprinted articles (edited 

slightly for style and audience) that were deemed to be of archaeological significance, 

and the remaining articles are based on recent archaeological 

research. These fourteen chapters are subdivided into four thematic areas: 

Assessment and Excavations of Taíno Sites, Taíno Exploitation of the Natural 

Resources, Analysis of Taíno Archaeological Data, and Taíno Art Forms. 

The four themes were selected in an effort to illustrate the diverse areas of 

research conducted in the island. The first section, Assessment and 

Excavations of Taíno Sites, looks at the various archaeological investigations 

I NTRODUCTION 

9


across the island. Taíno Exploitation of the Natural Resources examines how 

the Taínos exploited the natural environment to fulfil their needs. The third 

section, Analysis of Taíno Archaeological Data, highlights research conducted 

on various artefacts. The final theme, Taíno Art Forms, focuses specifically 

on evidence of Taíno cave art, both in situ and mobiliary, and its impact on the 

interpretation of the Jamaican Taíno livelihood.

Section 1 

Assessment and 

Excavation of Taíno Sites 

THE FIRST FOUR hundred years of European occupation saw the growth of collections 

of prehistoric objects of curiosity such as the Carpenter’s Mountain 

zemís. The first recorded archaeological investigations in Jamaica did not 

occur until the late nineteenth century. During the past century, a series of 

investigations have taken place across the island. Some archaeologists discredit 

many of these investigations because amateur or “avocational” archaeologists 

conducted them. Regardless, the works of these amateurs have 

contributed a lot of insight to Jamaican prehistory. The first chapter, “The 

Development of Jamaican Prehistory”, provides a background, not only for the 

evolution of Jamaican Taínan archaeology but also for the overall development 

of Jamaican archaeological research. It highlights the various investigations 

and their significance, from the late nineteenth century to the present. 

The remaining chapters in this section are based on research that took 

place during the past decade. The second article, “Taíno Settlement of the 

Kingston Area”, reports on a survey of eighteen sites in Kingston. The authors 

examine the findings of two pilot studies, an examination of the molluscs 

recovered from Chancery Hall and the application of the neutron activation 

analysis of the pottery samples from the selected sites. 

The Chancery Hall site is discussed in further detail in the three-part 

chapter “The Pre-Columbian Site of Chancery Hall”, which chronicles the 

investigations of this Taíno site from its discovery by George Lechler to the 

post-excavation analysis of the material recovered. 

The subject of the fourth chapter is the Green Castle, St Mary, excavations, 

a joint project between the University of the West Indies and Murray State 

University. The project directors, Philip Allsworth-Jones and Kit Wesler, 

describe progress and findings during the past three seasons. 

Andrea Richards, in the final chapter in this section, “The Impact of Land- 

Based Development on Taíno Archaeology in Jamaica”, examines the effect of 

development on prehistoric sites. 

11

1 

The Development 

of Jamaican 

Prehistory 

W ILLIAM 

F. K EEGAN 

and 

LESLEY-GAIL ATKINSON 

ARCHAEOLOGY IN JAMAICA developed from prehistoric interests. 

The island has a long, rich history of archaeological investigations. On 

the one hand, foreign archaeologists have come to Jamaica with the goal of fitting 

the island’s pre-Columbian past into the dominant frameworks of the 

time. Their studies have had the widest dissemination and are most frequently 

cited in synthetic studies (for example, Howard 1950, 1956, 1965). On the 

other hand, Jamaica has a tradition of research conducted by local, “avocational” 

archaeologists (that is, those lacking a professional degree in archaeology), 

whose work was less widely disseminated because their results were 

published primarily in Archaeology Jamaica, the newsletter of the Archaeology 

Society of Jamaica. Only those foreign archaeologists who have made a conscious 

effort to learn Jamaica’s prehistory have made use of the extensive literature 

that is available. 1 As a result, Jamaican archaeology is often portrayed 

as a “black hole” and as lacking any prior systematic research. 

But that characterization of Jamaican archaeology is false. The Institute of 

Jamaica, the Archaeological Society of Jamaica, the Jamaica National 

Heritage Trust and the University of the West Indies have sponsored and supported 

numerous projects, including both surveys and excavations. The results 

of these projects provide a rich database that is the equal to studies conducted 

on other islands in the West Indies. It is our goal in this chapter to broaden 

the distribution of information about Jamaica’s past by drawing attention to 

research conducted on the island over the past century. We will pursue this 

13

objective by using a frame of reference for the history of West Indian archaeology 

introduced by Irving Rouse (1996). In this regard we will consider artefactual 

research, chronological order, culture-historical inquiry and 

sociocultural research, as these have been exemplified by investigations undertaken 

in Jamaica. The review that follows will provide a basic outline for the 

investigations of the past, as well as references to work that should heighten 

awareness of Jamaica’s rich history among archaeologists working in the West 

Indies. 

Frame of Reference 

In writing a history of Jamaican archaeology, we need to acknowledge that 

Irving Rouse established the main framework and research agenda. Rouse’s 

approach to culture history has dominated the field for more than sixty years 

(Rouse 1939, 1992). Rouse (1996) identified four levels of interpretation that 

developed in sequence. The first, called artefactual research, involved the discovery, 

description and identification of archaeological materials that were 

often removed to private collections and public museums. Such activities 

began in the eighteenth century and continue today, but they reached their 

acme in the early twentieth century. 

Rouse reports that by the 1920s attention had shifted to the second level – 

organizing known assemblages in chronological order. Coincident with 

chronology is the spatial distribution of material remains. The third level, 

initiated in the 1950s, involves using material remains to define “cultures” 

which in turn define the “peoples” who are the subject of culture-historical 

inquiry (Rouse 1972, 1996). The fourth level, called sociocultural research, 

emerged in the 1970s. It involves a shift of attention from the peoples who 

produced the local cultures to the societies that used them (Rouse 1996). 

Rouse’s scheme provides a useful frame of reference for characterizing prehistoric 

archaeological investigations conducted in Jamaica over the past 

century. For this reason we will review past research within the structure of 

these four categories. However, it should be noted that classification schemes, 

including Rouse’s characterization of stages of research, tend to emphasize 

similarities and disregard differences. In other words, these categories are 

fuzzy and porous. Some researchers were ahead of their time, while others 

have clung to the old ways of doing things. What is most important is that 

people recognize the breadth of research already conducted in Jamaica. Our 

review ends by highlighting the present research in the island. 

Finally, Caribbean archaeology cannot outrun its past. Even on islands like 

Jamaica, where local historical goals have been pursued, the general tendency 

has been to lump all of the islands into one Caribbean/West Indian culture 


history. Yet self-awareness at a variety of different levels is important. 

According to Bob Marley, “If you know your history, then you will know 

where you’re coming from.” Jamaica needs to relish its past, but at the same 

time its archaeologists need to move toward using Jamaican prehistory to 

broaden our understanding of West Indian history. 

Artefactual Research 

An early interest in Native American archaeology can be traced to the eighteenth 

century. American archaeologists have dated the founding of their 

discipline to excavations conducted by Thomas Jefferson in 1780 on his property 

in Virginia (Thomas 1979). Yet Edward Long (1774) had already 

described prehistoric artefacts in Jamaica. These early forays into prehistoric 

archaeology certainly generated an interest in artefacts from the past, yet these 

remained isolated in the “curiosity cabinets” of the eighteenth and nineteenth 

centuries. 

Jamaican Taíno artefacts, particularly the wooden zemís (representations of 

supernatural spirits), have been a subject of curiosity since the eighteenth century. 

George “Tony” Aarons (1994) has written about the discovery of 

Jamaican zemís before 1757. One of the most spectacular Jamaican discoveries 

was three wooden zemís from Carpenter’s Mountain (Manchester) found 

in 1792. The Carpenter’s Mountain zemís are individually referred to as the 

“Bird Man”, the “Rain Deity” and the “Man with the Canopy”. These zemís 

were presented to the British Museum in 1799 (ibid.). 

It was not until the late nineteenth century that a more formal interest in 

the archaeology of the Americas developed. In the United States, the 

Smithsonian Institution was founded in 1846 with a gift from James 

Smithson of England, and in 1916 the George G. Heye Foundation in New 

York established a museum that is currently being transformed into the 

Museum of the American Indian. Moreover, the Field Museum in Chicago 

sponsored the Colombian Exposition in 1893–94. Among the attractions of 

that World’s Fair was an exhibition of Native American encampments, presented 

as a kind of human zoo. Today we view this exploitation of native peoples 

as an unfortunate episode in the history of American anthropology. 

What many people fail to realize is that Jamaica’s history rivals that of its 

North American neighbour. Founded in 1879 by then Governor Sir Anthony 

Musgrave, the Institute of Jamaica is one of the oldest cultural heritage organizations 

in the Americas. The Institute of Jamaica played a formidable role in 

the development of Jamaican archaeology, being responsible for all archaeological 

expeditions, surveys and exhibitions from its inception up to the mid- 

1980s. In the 1890s, the Institute of Jamaica was pivotal in the emergence of 

T HE 

D EVELOPMENT OF J AMAICAN P REHISTORY 

15


two important figures in Jamaican archaeological research: J.E. Duerden and 

Frank Cundall. Cundall and Duerden both worked on the Institute of Jamaica 

staff and made significant contributions to the evidence of pre-Columbian 

peoples in Jamaica. The late nineteenth century witnessed a renewed interest 

in pre-Columbian peoples (Cundall 1894a, 1894b, 1895; Duerden 1895, 

1897) perhaps in relation to the quatercentenary of Christopher Columbus’s 

first voyage to the Americas. Frank Cundall’s 1894 publication on Columbus 

(Cundall 1894c) is testimony to this interest. 

Between 1879 and 1930 the primary focus of Jamaican archaeology was 

prehistoric sites, and more intensive archaeological investigations were carried 

out in the 1890s than at any other period in the nineteenth century. Lady 

Edith Blake, the wife of the then governor general, had an abiding interest in 

Jamaican archaeology. She published a paper on the Norbrook kitchen midden 

(Blake 1895) and amassed a collection of artefacts that eventually was 

purchased by the Heye Foundation, Museum of the American Indian. 

She also promoted her interests among the staff of the Institute of Jamaica, 

resulting in an exhibition of pre-Columbian artefacts at the Institute in 1895 

and the publication of a pioneering book by Duerden in 1897. R.C. 

MacCormack’s excavations in southern Vere and the Portland Ridge in 

Clarendon in 1897–98 ended the excavations for the nineteenth century. 

The twentieth century was a crucial period for archaeological growth and 

development, beginning at the start of the century with J.F. Brennan’s investigations 

at Knapdale, St Elizabeth (1901) and Cundall’s research at Liberty 

Hill, St Ann (1902). In addition, archaeologists from the Museum for 

Volkepkunde, Berlin, investigated cave and open-air sites near Montego Bay, 

St James (Reichard 1904). Philip Sherlock and Frank Cundall both summarized 

the results of these studies in 1939. 

The more general interest in the archaeology of the West Indies also continued 

into the early twentieth century. Jesse Walter Fewkes made an expedition 

to Puerto Rico in 1907 for the Smithsonian Institution and wrote about 

West Indian archaeology in general (Fewkes 1922). Theodoor De Booy, 

working for the Heye Foundation, visited the Bahamas, the Turks and Caicos 

Islands, Margarita Island off the north coast of Venezuela, St John, Trinidad, 

the US Virgin Islands and Jamaica. Under the sponsorship of American 

museums, Fewkes, De Booy and Herbert Kreiger (1931) all worked to bring 

Caribbean archaeology to light. 

De Booy (1913) excavated a midden on the Retreat property in St Ann. 

The site is of special interest because it is about 10 km from the sea. The hill 

on which the site is located is 365 m above sea level. The hilltop is level, with 

a series of middens positioned below the hilltop. The pottery in the site was 

executed in the White Marl style, and there are a large number of handles that

are typical of the unique Jamaican canteen. As De Booy noted, despite the 

similar use of incision and appliqué decorations, the pottery in Jamaica is considerably 

different from that found on neighbouring islands. Land snails 

(Pleurodonte acuta) were the dominant molluscs in the deposits, but marine 

taxa (Arca, Strombus and Fasciolaria) were also observed. A year later, G.C. 

Longley (1914) provided supplementary information to De Booy’s Jamaican 

investigations. 

The initial phase of archaeological investigation consisted of simple 

descriptions of site locations and artefacts from pre-Columbian sites. For 

example, Sven Lovén (1932) reported the discovery of projectile points 

(“stone dart points”) from Old Harbour, St Catherine. Projectile points are 

not common in West Indian sites, and there is some question as to what these 

mean in terms of Jamaican archaeology (Harris 1991). Some effort was made 

to interpret how the native peoples of Jamaica might have lived by using the 

reports from the early Spanish chroniclers (Sherlock 1939); however, there 

was little attempt to determine the accuracy of the Spanish characterization 

of the Taíno. Moreover, because the Spanish tended to report that all of the 

peoples on these islands were the same, there has been a tendency among ethnohistorians 

to generalize as well. For example, religious beliefs recorded 

among the Macorix of central Hispaniola have been used to characterize 

Taíno religious beliefs on all of the islands (see Bourne 1906). 

This phase of investigation had run out of steam by the 1930s. Lovén 

(1935) published an encyclopaedic summary of ethnohistoric reports and 

archaeological investigations, The Origins of the Taínan Culture, West Indies.By 

the time this synthesis was published, there seemed to be nothing new that 

could be learned from collecting the artefacts of Jamaica’s prehistoric peoples. 

Thus, the 1930s saw a shift in interest toward Jamaica’s Hispanic heritage 

(Aarons 1983b, 1984), epitomized by the work of Charles S. Cotter. After 

the 1940s, archaeological interest was focused on the historic sites, primarily 

Port Royal, Kingston and Sevilla la Nueva (New Seville), St Ann. 

Chronological Order 

Initial efforts to arrange the events of the past in historical order were based 

on the development of “relative” chronologies. One of the basic principles of 

archaeology is the law of superposition, which states that the deepest artefacts 

in a deposit generally are the oldest. In a midden (garbage heap), for instance, 

later deposits bury the first objects discarded. There is always the possibility 

that later activities can disturb the sequence (for example, when a burial pit is 

dug into existing deposits), but with careful attention to the integrity of strata, 

the observer can identify such disturbances. By developing sequences of arte- 

T HE 


17


facts, from the most deeply buried to those closest to the surface, it is possible 

to develop a “relative” chronology, with the oldest materials at the bottom 

and the youngest at the surface. 

By 1950, Willard Libby had developed a technique for “absolute” dating, 

which enabled the calendar year in which an organic material died to be established, 

within an error range based on the accuracy of the technique. Yet 

radiocarbon dating of archaeological deposits in Jamaica has never been a priority. 

As a result, there are very few absolute dates for any of the sites. Instead, 

the tendency has been to cross-date material remains on the basis of similarities 

to previously dated artefact styles. Cross-dating is accomplished by 

matching artefacts from one site with those from other sites that have been 

radiocarbon-dated. 

Over the past decade, scientists have recognized potential sources of error 

in radiocarbon dates. The method measures concentrations of carbon-14, an 

isotope of carbon-12 whose abundance in the atmosphere has varied through 

time. In addition, different living tissues contain different concentrations of 

C 14 . Various correction factors are now applied to give corrected and calibrated 

radiocarbon dates, which are given as a mean date ± an error range (for example, 

one of the dates for the Sweetwater site at Paradise Park is calibrated AD 

1430 ± 70). 

The calibration of radiocarbon dates indicates that the age ranges given for 

Jamaican cultures may need revision. It should be remembered that radiocarbon 

dates are not really “absolute”; they come with an error range and are 

based on statistical probabilities. When atmospheric fluctuations in C 14 are 

considered, the dates for Jamaican cultures are about a century younger than 

previous estimates, so some of the dates may need to be adjusted. For example, 

the AD 650 date, which is used for the beginning of the Little River style, 

should be revised to around AD 750. In addition, the early dates for the White 

Marl site (Silverberg, Vanderwal and Wing 1972) – AD 877 ± 95 and AD 934 

± 95 – would calibrate to around AD 1000–1020. These calibrated dates are 

more consistent with other dates from the site, which range from AD 1150 to 

AD 1350. We mention these modifications because it is often assumed that 

radiocarbon dating provides absolute dates for material, and such is not the 

case: radiocarbon dates indicate only a range of possibilities for the timing of 

past events (see Davis 1988). 

Research in Jamaica is more characteristic of the culture-historical 

approach, in which the sequence of Redware to White Marl is viewed as an 

adequate rendering of the cultural sequence. Marion De Wolf in 1933 conducted 

excavations at three sites in the parish of St Ann: Little River, Little 

Nigger Ground Hill (Retreat) and Windsor. Twenty years later she highlighted 

her findings in a report on these excavations entitled “Excavations in

Jamaica” (De Wolf 1953). The Little River site revealed pottery of a characteristic 

red nature which had not previously been noted in Jamaica. De Wolf 

stated that the pottery resembled that of the Ostiones and Cuevas cultures of 

Puerto Rico (see Rouse 1986). This ceramic culture is locally referred to as 

Redware. Its discovery established that the island had three ceramic cultures. 

In 1968, Ronald Vanderwal presented the results of his investigations of 

twenty-six sites across the island in his thesis “The Prehistory of Jamaica: A 

Ceramic Study”. Vanderwal’s research included radiocarbon dates of samples 

from Alligator Pond (renamed Bottom Bay), Manchester and Bengal, St Ann. 

The Alligator Pond site was dated AD 650 ± 120. It was not until thirty-five 

years after the De Wolf excavations that an associated date range was allocated 

to the Little River site, via cross-dating it with the Alligator Pond site. These 

data established the Redware culture, or the Little River complex, as the earliest 

period in the island’s chronology. The Bengal sample was dated AD 1180 

± 100, and Vanderwal (1968a) suggests that the Fairfield Complex originated 

sometime before this date. 

In the past seventy years, three main ceramic cultures have been identified, 

and radiocarbon dating has been used to establish their place in the 

island’s chronology. The earliest is the Little River Style, dated AD 650 ± 120 

(Howard 1950; De Wolf 1953; Tyndale-Biscoe 1962; Vanderwal 1968a). The 

second is the White Marl Style, dated AD 877 ± 95 to 1490 ± 120 (Howard 

1950; Vanderwal 1968a; Silverberg, Vanderwal and Wing 1972). The third is 

the Montego Bay Style, or the Fairfield complex, dated AD 1180 ± 100 

(Howard 1950; Tyndale-Biscoe 1962; Vanderwal 1968a, 1968b). 

Culture-Historical Inquiry 

From the 1930s until 1960, Yale University conducted a special programme in 

Caribbean Anthropology. Professor Cornelius Osgood supervised the archaeology 

component of this programme. The goal was to inventory archaeological 

sites on different islands and to catalogue and classify the material remains 

that were found. As part of the programme, Irving Rouse and Froelich Rainey 

conducted research in Haiti (Rainey 1941; Rouse 1939, 1941) and Puerto 

Rico (Rainey 1940; Rouse 1952); Osgood and Rouse investigated eastern 

Cuba (Osgood 1942; Rouse 1942); Marshall McKusick (1959) conducted 

field research in St Lucia; and Robert Howard (1950) investigated Jamaica. 

Of this group, only Rouse would continue to work in the islands for his 

entire career. Rouse, who is considered the “doyen of Caribbean prehistory” has 

laboured for more than sixty years to delimit the time-space systematics of 

West Indian culture history (see Rouse 1939, 1972, 1992; Rouse and Allaire 

1978). His system of classifying material remains came to dominate research in 

T HE 


19


the West Indies. In fact, his methods are highly idiosyncratic, and there are no 

other regions on the planet where archaeologists today use his technique. For 

this reason, it is imperative that one understand his methods for classifying 

archaeological materials. It is essential to understand this system in Jamaica, 

as Robert Howard was strongly influenced by Rouse’s methods, and Howard’s 

framework for Jamaican culture history continues in use to the present. 

Rouse’s method starts with the artefacts and works up. The basic organization 

of the chart has space on the horizontal axis and time on the vertical axis 

(see Figure 1.1). Temporal positions are determined by stratigraphic relations 

(that is, superposition) with calendar years obtained by radiometric dating. 

Until recently, relatively few radiocarbon dates were available, so the tendency 

has been to cross-date assemblages. However, a number of problems 

have been observed, including the selective reporting of dates, the potential 

for misdating burials because older potsherds were mixed in the fill, the dating 

of potentially contaminated samples, and an over-reliance on mean dates 

to the exclusion of standard deviations (Davis 1988). 

Space in the chart is organized by island, island group and water passage. 

The emphasis on water passages reflects the observation that archaeological 

complexes that face each other across passages are more similar than those on 

opposite ends of the same island (Watters and Rouse 1989). Names within 

the body of the chart distinguish pottery styles that are observed in different 

geographical areas. In the absence of pottery, other elements of material culture 

are substituted. Styles are defined on the basis of shared “modes”, which 

are the basic elements of manufacture and decoration. These styles are then 

classified into hierarchical groupings based on shared modes. The highest 

order of grouping is series (ending in -oid), which Rouse equates with “peoples 

and cultures”. They are distinguished “by comparing their ceramic styles and 

associated traits and grouping together peoples that resemble each other most 

closely in their styles and in other diagnostic traits” (Rouse 1992, 33). In the 

past two decades Rouse recognized the need for a mid-level classification to 

characterize smaller geographical units that share similar modes. Thus the 

concept of subseries (ending in -an), created by dividing series into smaller 

units, was introduced. 

Robert Howard’s research in Jamaica in 1947–48 initiated a new period of 

interest in Jamaican prehistory. He acknowledged the important contributions 

of C.B. Lewis, curator of the Science Museum of the Institute of Jamaica. 

Howard introduced Rouse’s taxonomy and, in the process, established a new 

mindset for archaeological research on the island. Previous investigations had 

emphasized the description of artefacts that were unique and exotic. In contrast, 

the culture-historical approach focused on the mundane, everyday artefacts 

of life; this approach asked when and where particular forms of pottery

UNINHABITED 

Figure 1.1 Irving Rouse’s chronology of the series and subseries of cultures in the West Indies. Ages: A, Archaic; 

C, Ceramic; F, Formative; H, Historic; L, Lithic. The Bahama Channel area includes the Bahama Islands, the 

Turks and Caicos Islands and central Cuba; the Jamaica Channel area, Jamaica and southwestern Haiti; the 

Windward Passage area, eastern Cuba and the adjacent parts of Haiti; the Mona Passage area, the Dominican 

Republic and western Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Passage area, eastern Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. 

(Rouse 1992, Fig. 8.) 

21


decoration and other artefacts were found. In essence, the change in emphasis 

reflected a shift from quality to quantity. On the one hand, the discovery of 

exotic artefacts is a rare occurrence akin to winning the lottery; on the other, 

archaeological sites are common in Jamaica, and new ones can be found with 

relatively little effort. 

Howard’s dissertation (1950) describes in detail archaeological investigations 

that had been conducted before 1950. In this regard it provides an 

important starting point for an inventory of archaeological sites and descriptions 

for material remains. He recorded seventy-five midden sites, twentyseven 

cave sites, and nine rock art sites. His inventory and references to the 

original publications on these sites are reported in Tables 1.1–1.3 (see appendix). 

We include these tables to provide present and future researchers with 

the sources for research up to that date. 

In his later publications Howard (1956, 1965) fitted Jamaican archaeology 

into the dominant classification scheme of the time. It is worth reiterating 

that his scheme was based on Rouse’s taxonomy, which identified a single 

line of development for the islands. Other archaeologists identified every different 

pottery series as representing the migration of a new group of people 

into the West Indies (see Keegan 2000). In contrast, Rouse has always maintained 

that there was a single line of development, that each new pottery series 

developed from the previous series and that new immigrants were not responsible 

for the observed changes (Siegel 1996). 

According to Rouse’s scheme at the time, the first Ceramic Age peoples in 

the islands were the Saladoid (named for the Saladero site on the Orinoco 

River in Venezuela). They reached Puerto Rico about 400 BC but did not 

expand into Hispaniola, and there was no further movement to the west, until 

after AD 600. Rouse (1986) described the failure of pottery-making to expand 

westward at this time as evidence for a “frontier” at the Mona Passage. By AD 

600 a new pottery series had developed, which Rouse called Ostionoid 

(named for the Punta Ostiones site in Puerto Rico). The Ostionoid peoples 

began a new phase of population movement, expanding into Hispaniola, 

Cuba, the Bahamas and Jamaica after AD 600. The Ostionoid series is distinguished 

by simple hemispherical and boat-shaped vessels, frequently decorated 

with red paint (see Figure 1.2). For this reason the pottery is often called 

Redware. 

Rouse (1986) at one time concluded that the Ostionoid series then developed 

into the Meillacoid series (named for the Meillac site in Haiti), through 

the abandonment of red paint and the adoption of fine-line incised and 

appliqué decorations. The change occurred in central Hispaniola, and the new 

form of decoration spread to Cuba and Jamaica. Rouse views this transition as 

the spread of new ideas about decoration rather than the actual movement of

Figure 1.2 Ostionan pottery from Jamaica. (Florida Museum of Natural History Collection.) 

peoples from Hispaniola to the west. Finally, the Chicoid series (named for 

the Boca Chica site in the southeastern Dominican Republic) developed out 

of the Meillacoid and spread west to eastern Cuba and east to Puerto Rico 

and the northern Lesser Antilles (Figure 1.3). Again, Rouse (ibid.) attributed 

the spread of these decorative modes to the movement of ideas and not 

the migration of peoples. 

Figure 1.3 Chican pottery from Hispaniola. (Florida Museum of Natural History Collection.) 

T HE 


23

Howard (1965) recognized that Redware pottery was similar to the 

Ostionoid pottery described by Rouse. Jamaican Redware, however, is different 

from Ostionoid pottery found elsewhere in the Greater Antilles; for that 

reason he named the style after the Little River site (though many people continue 

to use the name Redware to describe this style). Howard noted that 

there was another kind of pottery decorated with incised designs and filleted 

rims that was very similar to the Meillacoid pottery from Hispaniola, and he 

called this style White Marl after the site at which it was first described. 

Howard (ibid.) recognized that the pottery from the Fairfield site near 

Montego Bay was similar to White Marl pottery, but that it was also quite 

distinctive. He therefore identified the Fairfield complex or the Montego 

Bay style, which characterized the pottery of northwestern Jamaica. 2 

Meillacoid vessels, including the White Marl style, typically are boatshaped 

or hemispherical and turn inward at the shoulder, 

such that the opening (aperture) is smaller than the 

greatest diameter of the vessel (casuela) (Figure 1.4). 

Filleted rims are common and incised and appliqué decorations 

are located between the shoulder and the rim. 

Meillacan pottery from Jamaica is distinctive in that 

the distance between the shoulder and the rim is 

shorter than that observed on casuela vessels in Haiti 

(Figure 1.5). The Montego Bay style is also distinctive in 

that a wider fillet or separate band of clay (in addition 

to a filleted rim) is affixed at the rim and is decorated with 

deeply incised parallel lines on this band. 

Figure 1.4 Jamaican 

Meillacan boat-shaped 

vessel. (Illustration by 

Joslyn Reid, Institute 

of Jamaica Collection.) 

Figure 1.5 Meillacan pottery from Haiti. (Florida Museum of Natural History Collection.) 


Descriptions of Jamaican Redware were based on pottery recovered during 

excavations at the Little River site in 1933 (De Wolf 1953). The Little 

River site was the first at which Redware pottery was identified, although 

since then a number of Redware sites have been discovered, primarily along 

the south coast. The Alligator Pond site is a good example (Silverberg, 

Vanderwal and Wing 1972). Howard (1950) reported the Little River style 

as being part of the Ostionoid series, and the White Marl and Montego Bay 

styles as part of the Meillacoid series. 

Rouse has since modified his classification system to include subseries, 

apparently based on his belief that all of the late-period styles were derived 

from the Ostionoid series. According to the new scheme, there were 

Ostionan, Meillacan, and Chican subseries of the Ostionoid series (Figure 

1.6). In accord with this revised scheme, Jamaican Redware fits in the 

Ostionan Ostionoid, and White Marl and Montego Bay styles are part of 

the Meillacan Ostionoid. The main problem with this classification is that 

new evidence from Haiti indicates that the Ostionan, Meillacan, and Chican 

subseries are probably separate traditions. Meillacan and Chican apparently 

developed from an early migration of people or the diffusion of pottery making 

to archaic groups in the eastern Dominican Republic around 350 BC. The 

Ostionan subseries did not reach Hispaniola until after AD 600 (Keegan 2003; 

Veloz Maggiolo and Ortega 1996). The classification system has not, as yet, 

been modified to account for these new developments. 

These new data on the origins of the Ostionan and Meillacan subseries 

are especially important for Jamaican archaeology. It has been assumed, following 

Rouse, that the Redware peoples changed their style of decorating pottery 

and transformed themselves into the White Marl people. The new data 

suggest that there were two separate migrations to Jamaica. The first was by 

Central Cuba Jamaica Haiti (southwest) Eastern Cuba Haiti 

AD 1500 

AD 1200 

Pueblo Carrier 

Bani White Finca Viejo 

Marl ? Mellac 

AD 500 

Little 

River 

? 

Arroyo del Palo Macady 

Figure 1.6 Local styles in the Ostionan (in black), Meillacan (in dark grey) and Chican (in 

light grey) subseries, Ostionoid series, for Cuba, Haiti and Jamaica. (Rouse 1992, fig. 14.) 

T HE 


25

people making Ostionan (Redware) pottery, who arrived on the island after AD 

700. The second was by people making Meillacan (White Marl) pottery, and 

they arrived around AD 1000. The questions that face us concern the interactions 

between these distinct cultures and the way in which the Meillacan peoples 

were able to displace the Ostionan peoples who arrived before them. 

Finally, we need to address why the people near Montego Bay developed a 

distinct style of pottery decoration. These and other questions concerning 

the lifeways of the first people on Jamaica are the subject of the next phase of 

research that began in the 1970s. 

Sociocultural Research 

The papers collected in this book reflect sociocultural research, the most recent 

phase of archaeological investigation as defined by Rouse. This research initially 

was sponsored by the Archaeological Society of Jamaica, and was published 

in the society’s newsletter, Archaeology Jamaica (for example, see Wallace 

1992). The ASJ began as an Archaeology Club, established by James Lee in 

1965. Five years later, with outside support, Lee transformed the organization 

into the Archaeological Society of Jamaica. James Lee is a remarkable man. 

Not only did he devote substantial energy to identifying the prehistoric cultural 

resources of Jamaica, he also published reports on his investigations that 

provided a foundation for the future (see Lee 1991). 

During the 1960s and 1970s the main excavation projects were conducted 

at White Marl (S-1) (Perrins 1981; Silverberg, Vanderwal and Wing 1972), 

Rodney’s House (S-5) and Port Henderson (S-29) (Wilman 1978, 1979), all 

in St Catherine. Others were carried on at Bellevue (K-13), St Andrew 

(Medhurst 1976a, 1976b, 1977a, 1977b; Wing 1977); Cinnamon Hill ( J- 

10), St James (Osborne and Lee 1976, 1977; Johnson 1976); and Upton (A- 

43), St Ann (Wilman 1983, 1984, 1992). Although most of the members of 

the ASJ have been avocational archaeologists, their investigations have always 

been of the highest quality. In addition to visiting newly discovered prehistoric 

sites and conducting an active programme of prospecting for new sites, a 

number of the members conducted excavations. 

During the Lee administration the society focused primarily on the island’s 

prehistory, which is evident in issues of Archaeology Jamaica from the period. 

Between 1965 and 1985, James Lee and the ASJ conducted intensive investigations, 

and subsequently published several articles, on Jamaican prehistoric 

artefacts, such as Taíno stone celts, pendants, grinding stones and net-sinkers 

(Lee 1978a; Roobol and Lee 1976, reprinted in this volume). Lee also 

published research on Taíno buréns or cassava griddles (Lee 1980a) and 

Jamaican adornos, which are clay heads that adorn the rims of pottery vessels 


(Lee 1983b). Dr Lee made a concerted effort to bring Jamaican archaeology 

to the archaeological community at large, and his work has been widely 

disseminated. 

In 1999, Lee handed over his collection to the University of the West 

Indies. This collection is currently being studied by the archaeological lab at 

the university’s Mona campus under the direction of Dr Philip Allsworth- 

Jones. The research done by Lee and the ASJ has also greatly benefited the 

Jamaica National Heritage Trust, as Lee’s site codes and mapping information 

have provided important data for the Jamaica National Heritage Trust’s 

National Inventory of Sites and Monuments. 

The past two decades have involved diversification and growth in Jamaican 

archaeology. During this period we have seen the beginnings of investigations 

of the Afro-Jamaican, Spanish and Jewish heritage – illustrating the island’s 

multiethnic composition, encapsulated in the motto on the national coat of 

arms, “Out of Many, One People”. 

The Jamaica National Heritage Trust was actually established as the 

Jamaica National Trust Commission in 1958, under the administration of the 

Institute of Jamaica. In 1985, the commission was separated from the Institute 

of Jamaica and renamed the Jamaica National Heritage Trust. According to 

Roderick Ebanks, Technical Director of Archaeology at the Jamaica National 

Heritage Trust, the new and improved institution was responsible for “the 

legal protection and administration of all historical sites, ranging from small 

houses – Taíno sites to Plantations” (personal communication, 1997). For 

almost two decades the Archaeology Division of the Jamaica National 

Heritage Trust has been responsible for most of the investigations conducted 

on the island. Although its members are highly trained and would like to pursue 

more scholarly research, the limited resources available have afforded the 

opportunity for little more than rescue and salvage operations (see Richards, 

this volume). 

When archaeology as a discipline was established at the University of the 

West Indies, the first lecturer was the Ghanaian Emmanuel Kofi Agorsah. 

“Dr Kofi”, as he is affectionately called, was influential in diversifying 

Jamaican archaeological research. His special interest was in Afro-Jamaican 

and Maroon archaeology, which he brought to the forefront (Agorsah 1992, 

1993, 1994). He also challenged traditional methods of classifying the past 

(Agorsah 1994). 

Since his arrival in 1998, Philip Allsworth-Jones has contributed to 

Jamaican prehistoric research with his collaborative investigations at 

Chancery Hall, St Andrew, and Green Castle, St Mary (both reported in this 

volume). 

During the past decade significant progress has been made. In 1992, there 

T HE 


27

was the recovery of the Aboukir zemís – the most significant Taíno find in two 

hundred years (discussed by Saunders and Gray in this volume). Subsequently 

there has been renewed interest in Jamaican prehistory, as seen by Elizabeth 

Rega at Sommerville Cave, Clarendon, William “Bill” Keegan at Paradise 

Park, Westmoreland, and, recently, Betty “Jo” Stokes at Rio Nuevo, St Mary. 

Conclusions 

Archaeologists throughout the West Indies have begun to move beyond the 

simple classification of pottery decorations to ask questions about where 

ancient people lived, what they ate, what types of trade they engaged in, how 

their economy might be characterized, what types of social relations they had 

and how their polities were organized. In this regard, it should be noted that 

Jamaican researchers were at the forefront in technical studies. They were 

among the first to seek the specific identification of animal bones found in 

sites in order to determine what people ate and where the foods were captured 

( Johnson 1976; Wing 1977). They used petrographic analysis to identify the 

sources of stone artefacts in the sites (Robool and Lee 1976, reprinted in this 

volume); and they used X-ray diffraction to characterize the clays from which 

pottery vessels were made at the Bellevue site (Medhurst 1976a, 1976b, 

1977a, 1977b). In addition, the study of wooden artefacts and of the petroglyphs 

and pictographs that decorated cave walls provided information about 

the makers’ belief systems and world view (Aarons 1994; Watson 1988; 

Saunders and Gray, this volume). 

Jamaican archaeology has a long and rich heritage. In fact, its early practitioners 

equalled and in some cases surpassed their peers in the United States. 

Yet for many years Jamaica was isolated. Caribbean archaeologists tended to 

emphasize the earliest Ceramic Age culture, known as Saladoid, and the contact 

period “Classic Taíno” cultures of eastern Cuba, Hispaniola and Puerto 

Rico. Because these cultures did not occur in Jamaica, Jamaican archaeology 

was viewed as peripheral to the main archaeological interests in the region. 

This lack of interest was initially expressed by calling the peoples of central 

Cuba, the Bahamas, the northern Lesser Antilles and Jamaica “sub-Taínos” 

(Lovén 1935). Although the term Western Taínos has now been adopted for 

the contact period peoples of central Cuba and Jamaica, the legacy of past 

research orientations has maintained their peripheral position. 

Despite a general lack of interest on the part of foreign archaeologists, 

Jamaica developed a model programme of national archaeology through the 

combined efforts of the Institute of Jamaica, ASJ, the University of the West 

Indies and the Jamaica National Heritage Trust. During the past decade, 

archaeologists working throughout the West Indies have begun to recognize 


that we need a more comprehensive view of the past. This new perspective 

does not focus on a single island, but instead takes an “archipelagic” view 

(Watters 1997). In this regard, there is renewed interest in the archaeology of 

the periphery, and Jamaican archaeology stands poised to make significant 

contributions to our understanding of the native peoples of the West Indies. 

T HE 


29

Appendix 

Table 1.1 Midden Sites Reported by Robert Howard and Reference to Their 

Original Description 

Site Parish Reference 

Great Goat Island St Catherine Duerden 1897 

Jackson’s Bay Clarendon MacCormack 1898 


Portland Clarendon MacCormack 1898 

Portland Ridge Midden 1 Clarendon MacCormack 1898 

Portland Ridge Midden 2 Clarendon MacCormack 1898 

Harmony Hall Clarendon Duerden 1897 

Salt River Clarendon MacCormack 1898 

Round Hill Clarendon Howard 1950 

Pedro St Elizabeth Reichard 1904 

Hounslow St Elizabeth Duerden 1897 

Black River St Elizabeth Reichard 1904 

Bluefields Westmoreland C.B. Lewis, Howard 1950 

Newfound River Hanover Duerden 1897 

Rhodes Hall Hanover Duerden 1897 

Haughton Hall Hanover Duerden 1897 

Kew Hanover Duerden 1897 

Fairfield, Montego Bay St James Reichard 1904 

Montego Bay Point St James Reichard 1904 

Williamsfield St James Duerden 1897 

Mammee Hill St James Duerden 1897 

Spotty Hill St James Duerden 1897 

California St James Duerden 1897 

Wales Trelawny Duerden 1897 

Stewart Castle Trelawny Duerden 1897 

Rio Bueno Trelawny Howard 1950 

Dry Harbour St Ann Howard 1950 

Retreat St Ann Duerden 1897, De Booy 1913 

Mahogany Hill St Ann Longley 1914 

Scarborough St Ann Longley 1914 

Logie Green Clarendon Longley 1914 

St Jean D’Acre St Ann Longley 1914 

Culloden St Ann Longley 1914 

Green Hill St Ann Longley 1914 

Table 1.1 continues 

30

Table 1.1 Midden Sites Reported by Robert Howard and Reference to Their 

Original Description (cont’d) 


Armordale St Ann C.S. Cotter, Howard 1950 

Boston St Ann C.S. Cotter, Howard 1950 

Orange Valley St Ann C.S. Cotter, Howard 1950 

Southfield St Ann Howard 1950 

Cranbrook St Ann Duerden 1897 

Seville St Ann C.S. Cotter, Howard 1950 

Liberty Hill St Ann Howard 1950 

Windsor St Ann C.S. Cotter, Howard 1950 

New Ground St Ann C.S. Cotter, Howard 1950 

Greenwich Park St Ann C.S. Cotter, Howard 1950 

Tydenham St Ann Howard 1950 

Prosper Hall St Ann C.S. Cotter, Howard 1950 

Trafalgar St Ann C.S. Cotter, Howard 1950 

Friendship St Ann Duerden 1897 

Belle Vue St Ann Duerden 1897 

Shaw St Ann Howard 1950 

Dunlookin St Mary Howard 1950 

Prospect St Mary C.S. Cotter, Howard 1950 

Llanrumney St Mary C.S. Cotter, Howard 1950 

Clitos Point St Mary Howard 1950 

Port Antonio Portland C.S. Cotter, Howard 1950 

Duckenfield St Thomas C.S. Cotter, Howard 1950 

Rozelle St Thomas C.S. Cotter, Howard 1950 

Creighton Hall St Thomas Howard 1950 

Cambridge Hill St Thomas Duerden 1897 

Sugar Loaf Hill St Thomas Howard 1950 

Seven Mile Hill Kingston & St Andrew Howard 1950 

Fort Nugent Kingston & St Andrew C.B. Lewis, Howard 1950 

Tower Hill Kingston & St Andrew C.B. Lewis, Howard 1950 

Long Mountain Kingston & St Andrew Duerden 1897 

Hope Kingston & St Andrew Duerden 1897 

Iver Kingston & St Andrew Howard 1950 

Norbrook Kingston & St Andrew Blake 1895; Duerden 1897 

Chancery Hall Kingston & St Andrew C.B. Lewis, Howard 1950 

Ferry Hill St Catherine Howard 1950 

Waterloo St Catherine Howard 1950 

White Marl St Catherine Duerden 1897; Howard 1950 

Port Henderson St Catherine Howard 1950 

Source: Howard 1950. 

31

Table 1.2 Cave Sites Reported by Robert Howard and Reference to Their Original 

Description 


Great Goat Island St Catherine Duerden 1897 

Portland Cave Clarendon C.B. Lewis, Howard 1950 

Portland Ridge Cave No. 1 Clarendon C.B. Lewis, Howard 1950 

Portland Ridge Cave No. 3 Clarendon Howard 1950 

Portland Ridge Cave No. 4 Clarendon Howard 1950 

Portland Ridge Cave No. 5 Clarendon C.B. Lewis, Howard 1950 

Portland Ridge Rock Shelter Clarendon Howard 1950 

Little Miller’s Bay Manchester MacCormack 1898 




Pedro St Elizabeth Duerden 1897 

Hounslow St Elizabeth Duerden 1897 

Ipswich St Elizabeth Howard 1950 

Drummond Westmoreland Duerden 1897 

Negril Westmoreland Duerden 1897 

New Market St James Reichard 1904 

California St James Duerden 1897 

Windsor Trelawny Howard 1950 

Alexandria St Ann Longley 1914 

Botany Bay St Thomas Duerden 1897 



Halberstadt Kingston & St Andrew Duerden 1897 

Bloxburgh St Thomas Duerden 1897 

Dallas Castle St Andrew Duerden 1897 


32

Table 1.3 Cave Art Sites Reported by Robert Howard and Reference to Their 

Original Description 


Canoe Valley Manchester C.B. Lewis, Howard 1950 



Kempshot St James Duerden 1897 

Pantrepant Trelawny Duerden 1897 

Salisbury St Ann C.S. Cotter, Howard 1950 

Walkerswood St Ann C.S. Cotter, Howard 1950 

Dryland St Mary Duerden 1897 

Mountain River Cave St Catherine Duerden 1897 


Notes 

1. There are similar problems with access to archaeological research conducted 

on other islands, including Cuba and the Dominican Republic, where the 

results are published locally and are not widely disseminated, especially to the 

English-speaking world. 

2. Vanderwal (1968a) called it the “Fairfield style” and reported that it was found 

only on the north coast in western Jamaica. Montego Bay–style pottery 

recently was discovered on the south coast at the Sweetwater site, Paradise 

Park, Westmoreland, just east of the town of Savanna-la-Mar. 

T HE D EVELOPMENT OF J AMAICAN P REHISTORY 

33

2 

The Taíno Settlement 

of the Kingston Area 

P HILIP 

A LLSWORTH-JONES 

G ERALD 

G EORGE 

L ALOR 

L ECHLER 

S IMON 

F. M ITCHELL 

E STHER 

and 

M ITKO 

Z. RODRIQUES 

V UTCHKOV 

Introduction 

THE PRESENCE OF Taíno sites in the Kingston area has been 

recorded from the last years of the nineteenth century onwards, and important 

excavations have been conducted at some of them, particularly by amateurs 

in the 1970s. Dr James Lee included them in his general mapping project of 

the island, the results of which were mentioned in the newsletter, which he 

edited from 1965 to 1986. As a result of the development and spread of 

Kingston in recent times, some new sites have been discovered, but they and 

some of the old ones have also been wholly or partially destroyed. The number 

of people who are aware of the exact location of some of these sites is 

limited, and it seemed desirable to record this information before it was lost. 

A survey of all known sites was therefore carried out in order to ascertain their 

current status and assess possible opportunities for future work. The results 

can be seen in the accompanying map (see Figure 2.1) and annotated list (see 

Table 2.3). In addition, two pilot studies were undertaken to explore the possibilities 

of scientific analysis of some of these materials. First, following a 

Originally published in 1999, in Proceedings of the Eighteenth International Congress for 

Caribbean Archaeology, Grenada, 1999: 115–27. 

34

Figure 2.1 Taíno sites in the Kingston area 

small trial excavation at Chancery Hall in 1998, the molluscs from that excavation 

were examined, and the results are compared with the material already 

published from Rodney’s House and Bellevue. Second, an initial study of pottery 

from six of the sites has been carried out using neutron activation analysis 

(NAA), and preliminary results from that study are also presented here. It 

is hoped that the pattern of interdisciplinary investigation employed in this 

study, using geographical units larger than the individual site, can be extended 

to throw light on the pre-Columbian occupation of Jamaica in general. 

The Kingston Area: Geographical Background 

The area with which this study is concerned is illustrated in Figure 2.1. In 

the centre is the Liguanea Plain, crossed by a number of gullies, and now 

occupied by the sprawling mass of the city of Kingston itself. To the north and 

east it is bounded by an arc of hills, notably the Red Hills, Jacks Hill, Dallas 

Mountain and Long Mountain. The Hope River runs to the sea in a gorge 

between the last two. To the west, where once there was a morass, the Salt and 

Fresh rivers and the Rio Cobre enter the sea at Hunts Bay. The Rio Cobre, 

canalized in the mid-nineteenth century, once joined the Fresh River in its 

course to the sea (Edward Robinson, personal communication, 1999). Port 

T HE TAÍNO S ETTLEMENT OF THE K INGSTON A REA 

35

Henderson Hill lies to the south, opposite the present Port Royal. Geologically, 

Port Henderson Hill, the Red Hills, Dallas Mountain and Long 

Mountain are all formed of Tertiary limestone, whereas Jacks Hill and the 

mountains rising to the northeast are of Cretaceous-Tertiary granodiorites, 

andesites and volcaniclastic and clastic sediments (Matley 1951; Green 1977; 

Gupta and Ahmad 2000). 

The Liguanea Plain represents an alluvial fan that was produced by sediments 

carried by the Hope River before it was diverted into its present channel 

(Wood 1976). It is possible that Sandy Gully marks its former course. It is 

not known exactly when the drainage took on its present form, but presumably 

it was essentially as it is now during the time of the Taíno occupation. 

According to Claypole (1973), the Liguanea Plain was largely unsettled and 

uncultivated immediately prior to the English occupation in 1655: “No 

springs or rivers flowed in or across the centre portion which was composed 

mainly of a dry savanna area”. One result of the Hope River capture was the 

formation of the Palisadoes tombolo, made up of increased sediment entering 

the sea southeast of Long Mountain and transported west by longshore 

drift. According to Hendry (1978), Port Royal has at times been joined to 

the rest of the Palisadoes and at times been separated from them. 

Taíno Sites in the Kingston Area 

The sites are arranged in an arc around Kingston, and are listed in Table 2.3 

in their approximate order from west to east (Figure 2.1). The code names 

(where applicable) are those assigned to them by Dr J.W. Lee. If Molynes 

Mountain and Long Mountain are both considered as two sites, then there 

are eighteen major open-air locations characterized as shell middens, two burial 

caves, one stray find of a petaloid celt, one known raw-material source and 

one site where a canoe considered to be of Taíno origin was found. Some of 

the open-air sites were already known by the end of the nineteenth century 

and were commented on by Duerden (1897). Now they either are difficult to 

access because they are in socially volatile areas (Wareika and Rennock 

Lodge) or have been partially or totally built over (Norbrook and Hope 

Tavern). Of the sites discovered later, Harbour View is also largely inaccessible, 

Naggo Head has been totally destroyed by quarrying, and the few finds 

from Stony Hill were found only after the house on the site “Fort George” had 

been demolished. Other sites (Caymanas Bay, Molynes Mountain, Jacks Hill, 

Ivor, Long Mountain) are apparently still largely intact but have not been systematically 

investigated and are known only thanks to the work of interested 

amateurs. The major excavated open-air sites are Rodney’s House, Chancery 

Hall, Bellevue and Tower Hill, and these have produced both artefactual and 


environmental evidence. Chancery Hall has also produced the only radiocarbon 

date from the area, of 690 ± 50 BP (uncalibrated, which is equivalent to 

AD 1260 ± 50). Very little is known of the two burial caves (Beverly Hills and 

Dallas Castle), and the exact whereabouts of the second are not certain. Hope 

Mine certainly functioned as a source of galena until recently, and the locality 

was known to the Taínos, since pieces of this material, presumably prized for 

their decorative effect, have been found at both Bellevue and Chancery Hall. 

The wooden canoe is an unusual find quite unlike any of the others. It was 

discovered by National Water Commission (NWC) workmen in 1993–94 at 

the corner of Harbour and Pechon streets in downtown Kingston and is now 

in the custody of the Jamaica National Heritage Trust. It consists of a single 

piece of wood, is rounded at both ends and has a flat bottom with markings 

(presumably resulting from its construction) on both sides. It is considered to 

be of Taíno origin, but dating of the material, as well as full publication by 

the Jamaica National Heritage Trust, is still awaited. 

A distinct pattern of settlement is apparent from the study of the map. One 

of the major open-air sites is at an altitude of more than 610 m, eight are more 

than 305 m, and nine are between 305 m and 61 m above sea level. The tendency 

to settle on hilltops is clear. The stray find of a petaloid celt from the 

former grounds of the Mona Great House, as well as that of the canoe near 

the present day shoreline, provides a hint, however, that the Liguanea Plain 

was not entirely neglected, and the people must have traversed it to collect the 

marine molluscs which they evidently so much enjoyed, as well as for other 

purposes. 

Analysis of Shells from Chancery Hall 

A small excavation took place at Chancery Hall on 12–13 April 1998 as a 

joint project between the University of the West Indies and the University of 

Leicester. Work was carried out in two lots. On lot 340, a 1-m 2 quadrant was 

excavated to a depth of 15 cm. Apart from shells, artefacts recovered included 

ninety-six potsherds and one limestone flake. In addition, a section was cut 

in lot 386, by the boundary wall between it and lot 340. Layer 3 contained 

abundant shells and artefacts comparable to those from the excavated quadrant. 

There were twenty-three potsherds, fifteen chert flakes and a limestone 

core. This study related to the totality of the molluscan material recovered at 

that time. 

Methods 

All material recovered from the site was washed and dried. Molluscs were 

counted, counts being based on apices for gastropods and umbones for 


37

ivalves. Single gastropod valves were counted as one (operculae were 

ignored), while bivalve valves were counted as 0.5 (thus reflecting the fact that 

each animal has two valves). Identification was based on standard texts (for 

example, Abbott 1954; Humfrey 1975; Warmke and Abbott 1961). 

We divide the material into two separate groups: terrestrial molluscs and 

marine molluscs. While marine molluscs must have been transported to the 

site, terrestrial molluscs may have lived on the site and may have had little 

value to the Taíno people. 

Results 

The results of mollusc identifications are presented in Table 2.1. Representative 

samples have been deposited in the Geological Museum, University of 

the West Indies, with catalogue numbers ranging from UWIGM.1999.5 to 

UWIGM.1999.44. Eighty-five per cent of the terrestrial gastropods on the 

site are represented by Pleurodonte lucerna (Müller). 

Eighteen species of marine bivalve and nine species of marine gastropod 

were identified from Chancery Hall. Only five of the marine species [Neritina 

(Vitta) reclivata (Say), N. (V.) piratica (Russell), Anadara ovalis (Bruguière), 

Chione intapurpurea (Conrad) and Crassostrea rhizophorae (Guilding)] are 

numerically important, accounting for 90 per cent of the total marine species 

recovered (Table 2.1). 

Discussion 

The concentration of shells on the Chancery Hall site is likely to reflect both 

the dietary preference of the Taíno people and the resources available to them. 

The five most abundant marine molluscs found on the site probably formed 

a significant part of their shellfish diet. The species of Neritina occur in brackish 

water on intertidal mudflats (Warmke and Abbott 1961, 50–51), while the 

bivalves A. ovalis and C. intapurpurea are semi-infaunal (partially buried) 

inhabitants of mudflats, and C. rhizophorae lives attached to mangrove roots. 

Kingston Harbour, with its protected mudflats and shallow water, is the main 

site on the central south coast of Jamaica where mudflat molluscs occur, and 

it seems likely that the Chancery Hall Taíno people collected their shellfish 

from these mudflats. 

The modern mudflat fauna in Kingston Harbour is dominated by abundant 

examples of N. virginea Linné and C. cancellata Linné, while N. (V.) 

piratica, N. (V.) reclivata, A. ovalis and C. intapurpurea are rare. The abundance 

of the latter four species on the Chancery Hall site suggests that at the time of 


Table 2.1 Shells Collected from Chancery Hall 

Species Lot 340 Lot 386, Layer 3 Both Sites 

Marine Gastropods Count 1 Per cent 2 Count 1 Per cent 2 Count 1 Per cent 2 

Cittarium pica 1 0.1 0 0.0 1 0.04 

Fasciolaria tulipa 1 0.1 0 0.0 1 0.04 

Littorina sp. 0 0.0 1 0.2 1 0.04 

Melongena melongena 21 1.2 10 1.6 31 1.30 

Murex brevifrons 12 0.7 7 1.1 19 0.80 

Nerita fulgurans 1 0.1 0 0.0 1 0.04 

Neritina (Vitta) piratica 487 27.8 111 17.7 598 25.13 

Neritina (Vitta) reclivata 771 43.9 198 31.7 969 40.71 

Neritina (Vitta) virginea 7 0.4 6 1.0 13 0.55 

Total marine gastropods 1,301 – 333 – 1,634 – 

Terrestrial Gastropods – – – – – – 

Pleurodonte lucerna 288 n/a 129 n/a 417 n/a 

Dentellaria sloaneana 13 n/a 4 n/a 17 n/a 

Other terrestrial 0 n/a 59 n/a 59 n/a 

Total terrestrial gastropods 301 192 493 

Bivalves – – – – – – 

Anadara notabilis 1 0.0 3 0.2 4 0.08 

Anadara ovalis 324 9.2 287 22.9 611 12.84 

Anomalocardia brasiliana 3 0.1 2 0.2 5 0.11 

Arca umbonata 35 1.0 10 0.8 45 0.95 

Arca zebra 72 2.1 26 2.1 98 2.06 

Barbatia candida 2 0.1 0 0.0 2 0.04 

Brachidontes citrinus 2 0.1 6 0.5 8 0.17 

Chama macerophylla 50 1.4 18 1.4 68 1.43 

Chione cancellata 5 0.1 8 0.6 13 0.27 

Chione granulata 60 1.7 19 1.5 79 1.66 

Chione intapurpurea 215 6.1 123 9.8 338 7.10 

Chione sp. 0 0.0 1 0.1 1 0.02 

Codakia (s.s.) orbicularis 7 0.2 1 0.1 8 0.17 

Crassostrea rhizophorae 117 3.3 79 6.3 196 4.12 

Isognomon alatus 6 0.2 2 0.2 8 0.17 

Ostrea frons 4 0.1 0 0.0 4 0.08 

Semele proficua 3 0.1 0 0.0 3 0.06 

Trachycardium muricatum 1 0.0 0 0.0 1 0.02 

Total bivalve valves 907 – 585 – 1,492 – 

1 Individual bivalve and gastropod counts. 

2 Percentage of marine shells based on complete animals (gastropods count 1, bivalves count 0.5). 

39


Taíno occupation these species were dominant elements of the Kingston 

Harbour shellfish assemblage. Over-collection of these species by the Taíno 

people may have been responsible for the demise of the natural populations. 

In this context, it is interesting to note that the species favoured by the Taíno 

were replaced by species of smaller size (judging from modern populations) 

and therefore less nutritional value (more need to be collected for the same 

food quantity). 

One notable rarity on the Chancery Hall site is the Strombus gigas Linné 

(queen conch), only a single fragment having been found on a subsequent 

visit. This gastropod species is an important part of the modern shellfish diet 

in the Caribbean and was almost certainly collected for food by the Taíno people. 

S. gigas is a very large marine gastropod with an impressive shell. Its 

absence at Chancery Hall might be due to the fact that the shell is very heavy. 

(Why carry animal and shell up to the site when the muscle can be cut and 

only the meat transported?) Modern Jamaican beaches are littered with piles 

of S. gigas shells which have been culled for food; the antiquity of some piles 

may not even be guessed. 

The terrestrial gastropod P. lucerna is abundant on the Chancery Hall site. 

However, there are many places in Jamaica where extensive accumulations of 

terrestrial gastropods (often P. lucerna – Mitchell, personal observation) are 

concentrated in soil profiles with no evidence of archaeological occupation. 

Furthermore, a Taíno rubbish tip may have been a highly desirable habitat 

for such omnivorous terrestrial gastropods. It is therefore premature, without 

further investigation, to assume that the Taíno people ate these terrestrial 

molluscs, and they may be present on Taíno sites simply because they lived 

there. We therefore suggest that the presence of land snails on Jamaican 

archaeological sites should not necessarily be taken as evidence that they 

formed part of the diet of the Taíno people. 

Excavations at the Bellevue site (Wing and Medhurst 1977; Medhurst 

1977a, 1977b) recorded abundant marine and terrestrial shells. The most 

abundant marine taxa recorded by these authors were species of Neritina, Arca 

zebra Swainson, Chione granulata Gmelin and Anadara brasiliana Lamarck. 

This is clearly a similar assemblage to that recorded from Chancery Hall, 

which is only about 1.5 km from Bellevue. 

The assemblages of shells from Chancery Hall and Bellevue contrast 

markedly with those collected at Rodney’s House. Wilman (1978) recorded 

abundant marine (3,394) and terrestrial (371) shells from Rodney’s House 

with the marine assemblages dominated by A. zebra, A. imbricata Bruguière, 

Chama macerophylla Gmelin and Donax denticulatus Linné. The first three 

species are either cemented or attached by a byssus to hard substrates such as 

rocks, while the fourth is a shallow infaunal (living within the sediment)

ivalve inhabiting intertidal sands. Thus the assemblage from Rodney’s House 

typifies the coastal environments of Port Henderson Hill, with its rocky headlands 

and sandy beaches. 

In summary, we conclude that while the molluscs preserved on Taíno sites 

undoubtedly give some valuable insight into the Taíno diet, this may be to 

some extent distorted by spurious additions (terrestrial molluscs living on the 

site) and absences (large molluscs which were butchered on the shore). 

Arguments concerning human population size that are based solely on shellfish 

found on archaeological sites may, therefore, be unsound. 

Neutron Activation Analysis of Pottery 

Twelve pottery samples from six sites in the area ( Jacks Hill, Harbour View, 

Bellevue, Chancery Hall, Rodney’s House and Norbrook) were chosen for the 

study at the International Centre for Environmental and Nuclear Sciences at 

the University of the West Indies, to be carried out with the technique of neutron 

activation analysis (NAA). The objective was to determine whether the 

potters employed the same clay source and, if variations were detected, 

whether these reflected different clay sources or some other factor – for 

instance, different vessel types. Hence, there was an attempt to include as 

varied a selection as possible from each site, including rims and body sherds 

with different inclusions, and two griddles. 

Results 

A total of twenty-seven major, minor and trace elements was found. The concentrations 

of these elements are summarized in Table 2.2. 

Discussion 

Two striking points emerge from a study of these figures. First, there is a 

general homogeneity in the quantity of each element present in each sample 

site. The degree of homogeneity is particularly clear if only the four major elements 

(Al, Fe, Ti and Ca) are considered. Second, the values for these elements 

are consistent with their known occurrence in the soils of the Kingston 

area. Aluminium has an appropriate occurrence of between 8 and 10 per cent; 

iron, less than 1 per cent; titanium, between 0.49 and 0.7 per cent; and calcium, 

between 1 and 2 per cent (Lalor 1995). Histograms of the major elements 

in the sampled sites compared with the levels in the soils of the 

Kingston area are shown in Figure 2.2. 


41

Table 2.2 Neutron Activation Analysis of Pottery Samples from Sites 1–6 (concentrations in ppm, unless 

otherwise noted) 

Element Jacks Hill Harbour Bellevue Chancery Rodney’s Norbrook 

View Hall House 

Aluminium (%) 10.3 8.98 6.23 9.06 8.85 9.77 

Vanadium 110 196 117 130 106 70.1 

Titanium 4,830 5,310 3,920 3,370 3,440 3,860 

Calcium (%) 0.808 1.12 1.5 1.21 0.997 1.26 

Manganese 447 417 439 678 268 261 

Dysprosium 2.72 2.08 2.06 2.31 1.08 1.46 

Europium 0.99 0.635 0.727 0.825 0.50 0.65 

Barium 582 1,330 589 470 672 792 

Cadmium 2.24 3.29 5.16 6.91 1.13 2.25 

Lanthanum 17.7 12.1 14.6 13.5 8.55 12.9 

Samarium 4.00 2.39 2.75 2.76 1.39 2.12 

Arsenic 4.32 10.1 5.08 5.23 5.79 2.12 

Sodium (%) 2.12 1.76 1.86 2.45 1.54 2.32 

Bromine 3.77 3.28 1.92 3.98 2.57 2.54 

Uranium 2.52 1.87 1.55 1.90 1.39 1.3 

Potassium (%) 2.65 1.90 2.03 1.65 1.95 2.18 

Antimony 0.60 1.88 0.76 0.88 1.20 0.86 

Lutetium 0.33 0.245 0.223 0.20 0.50 0.24 

Chromium 24.5 50.9 34.3

12 

Al in Kingston Area 8–10% 

7 

Fe in Kingston Area

Plain may have played a role in the economic network of the time. The analysis 

of the shells from Chancery Hall revealed a definite concentration of certain 

species, which may be typical of inland sites as opposed to coastal sites 

such as Rodney’s House. Further study (coupled with an examination of vertebrate 

remains) at other sites in the area may reveal interesting local variations 

in the Taíno patterns of faunal exploitation. There are indications that 

certain molluscs may have been over-collected, leading to a lasting diminution 

of the natural populations. Neutron activation analysis of selected potsherds 

showed that they possessed a significant degree of homogeneity, perhaps suggestive 

of a single clay source. We intend to follow up with further studies on 

possible clay sources, and also with an approach using X-ray fluorescence, 

before drawing definitive conclusions. The likelihood of raw-material 

exchange is demonstrated for the area by evidence of exploitation, or at least 

collection, of galena at the Hope Mine, and study of the petrography of the 

celts found at the sites would undoubtedly also reveal much about source 

materials (Roobol and Lee 1976, reprinted in this volume). This study is 

hence not an end but a beginning to what it is hoped will be a larger work. 


Thanks go to Mrs Margaret Hodges and Mr Michael Gardner for showing us the 

sites on Plantation Heights and Long Mountain, and to the Jamaica Defence Force 

for their permission to visit Rodney’s House. For help in the excavation at Chancery 

Hall in 1998, thanks go to Dr Rob Young and Dr Jane Webster of the University of 

Leicester, to Dr Silvia Kouwenberg and Ms Susan Chung of the University of the 

West Indies, who participated in the work, and to Mr Tony Gouldwell of the 

University of Leicester, who studied and presented a report on some of the finds. Mr 

John Wilman provided information about the excavations at Bellevue and Rodney’s 

House, Mr Douglas Aitken kindly showed us his collection from Ivor, and Professor 

Maureen Warner-Lewis told us about the finds made at her property near Mona 

Great House. We are also grateful to Dr James Lee, who indicated on the map the 

precise locations of some of the sites that he investigated or relocated from the 1960s 

onwards. 


Appendix 

Table 2.3 Taíno Sites in the Kingston Area 

Site Code Comments 

Rodney’s House S-5 Excavated by Wilman in 1978 and by Medhurst in 1979. Six middens. Faunal 

remains. 3,394 marine and 371 terrestrial molluscs, most common marine Arca 

zebra, Donax denticulatus, Arca imbricata, Chama macrophylla. 6,728 bone fragments, 

MNI 747. Four species of mammals, three species of reptiles, four families 

of birds, twenty-five families of fish, six of crabs and lobsters. Typical West 

Indian dry coastal and shallow-water faunal communities. (Medhurst 1980; 

Scudder 1992; Wilman 1978, 1979) 

Naggo Head S-12 Investigated 1972–73, now destroyed by quarrying. Child burial. (Lee 1972a, 

1972b; Aarons 1983a) 

Caymanas Bay S-14 Investigated 1972–75. Small site on low hill. (Lee 1976b) 

Molynes Mountain K-14 Two sites, including Plantation Heights, investigated by Lee and Hodges, 1967 

and 1985. Pottery of White Marl style. (Lee 1967a, 1967b, 1983a, 1985b) 

Chancery Hall K-11 Investigated by Lechler from 1990 onwards, excavated by the Jamaica National 

Heritage Trust in 1996 and by a University of the West Indies–University of 

Leicester team in 1998. Seven human burials. Faunal remains. Charcoal sample 

dated in 1992 by Beta Analytic Inc. at 690 ± 50 BP (uncalibrated). (Lechler 

2000) 

Bellevue K-13 Excavated by Medhurst and Clarke in 1974–75 and by Medhurst and Wilman 

in 1976–77. House foundation 4.5 m in diameter. Four human burials. Pottery 

principally red-brown, a little buff-yellow ware. Faunal remains. 1974–75: 474 

marine and 717 terrestrial molluscs; 1976–77: 2,500 marine and 2,341 terrestrial 

molluscs. Most common marine Neritina piratica reclivata and virginea, 

Arca zebra, Chione granulata, Anadara brasiliana; 1,207 bone fragments from the 

first excavation, MNI 126, predominantly land species. (Medhurst 1976a, 

1976b, 1977a, 1977b; Scudder 1992; Wing and Medhurst 1977) 

Stony Hill 

Investigated by Gardner in 1997 when “Fort George”, Miss May Farquharson’s 

house, was demolished. 

Norbrook K-5 Investigated in 1890 by Lady Blake and therefore of considerable historical 

importance. Artefacts are still in evidence, but the site (hitherto owned by the 

National Water Commission) is undergoing development. (Duerden 1897) 

Jacks Hill K-1 Investigated by Lee and Lechler. Artefacts still in evidence. 

Ivor K-10 Investigated by Lee in 1971. Some excavation during construction work. 

(Lee 1971) 


45

Table 2.3. Taíno Sites in the Kingston Area (cont’d) 

Site Code Comments 

Hope Tavern K-3 Investigated by Duerden and subsequently relocated by Lee in 1966. 

(Duerden 1897; Lee 1966) 

Tower Hill K-7 Excavated by R.P. and A.K. Bullen in 1961. Faunal remains. Marine and 

terrestrial molluscs, sea turtles, fish including sharks, birds, and abundant hutia. 

(Bullen and Bullen 1974) 

Mona 

A stray find of a petaloid celt within the former grounds of the Mona Great 

House. 

Long Mountain K-8 Duerden stated that shell middens were widely spread on the elongated top 

and on less elevated portions of the mountain. Two distinct sites were subsequently 

identified by Lee and by Gardner. (Duerden 1897) 

Wareika K-2 Recorded by Duerden as being behind the then newly built Wareika House. 

(Duerden 1897) 

Rennock Lodge K-9 Marine shells, pottery, and two amulets reported by Duerden. (Duerden 1897) 

Harbour View K-6 Site in the vicinity of the Martello Tower, investigated by Lechler. (Lee 1984; 

Wallace 1992) 

Hope Mine 

Galena (lead and zinc ore) mined here from the time of the Spanish occupation 

onwards. Source of material found at Bellevue and Chancery Hall. (Matley 

1951; Hughes 1973) 

Beverly Hills KC-7 Reported as a burial cave by Lewis. (Lee 1970a) 

Dallas Castle KC-2 Reported as a burial cave by Duerden, could not be relocated by Lee. 

(Duerden 1897) 

Downtown Kingston 

Canoe found in 1993–94 by National Water Commission workmen at the 

corner of Harbour and Pechon streets. Considered to be of Taíno origin. Made 

of a single piece of wood. 

46

3 

The Pre-Columbian 

Site of Chancery Hall, 

St Andrew 

A NTHONY 

G OULDWELL 

P HILIP 


G EORGE 

L ECHLER 

S IMON 

F. M ITCHELL 

S ELVENIOUS 

WALTERS 

J ANE 

and 

W EBSTER 

R OBERT 

Y OUNG 

ONE OF THE TAÍNO sites discovered in recent years on the outskirts 

of Kingston is Chancery Hall, in Red Hills. In 1991, Mr George 

Lechler, past president of the Archaeological Society of Jamaica, reported the 

existence of the site and managed to salvage several important finds from it. 

In 1996, the Jamaica National Heritage Trust conducted test pit excavations 

on four of the Chancery Hall lots and retrieved further significant material. In 

1998, another small excavation was carried out by a combined team from the 

University of the West Indies and University of Leicester, primarily for providing 

stratigraphic control and recovering environmental data. This threepart 

report covers the discoveries made at the site so far. Much of Chancery 

Hall remains well preserved and it is hoped that further work can be done 

there. 

I. Discovery and First Investigation of 

Chancery Hall (1990–1994) 

Chancery Hall is about 8 km inland and at an elevation of about 240 m on 

gentle slopes facing southeast. The site was discovered in 1990 when George 

Lechler’s company, Explosive Sales and Services Ltd, was employed as sub- 

47

contractors to drill and blast for roadways, storm drains, pipe trenches and so 

on, in connection with a new housing development in the area. The site was 

divided into lots, which have been sold and on many of which houses have 

been constructed. In subsequent years salvage archaeology was carried out on 

an amateur basis, particularly in the vicinity of Horatio Drive. Most but not 

all of the finds reported here come from lot 340 to the north of Horatio Drive. 

Human Burials 

Seven burials were discovered (Figure 3.1). One consisted of an adult with a 

child buried on top and three bowls on top of the child. A bulldozer had 

crushed two of the bowls, but the third was recovered intact and contained 

fragmented bones (Figure 3.2). 

Figure 3.1 Taíno 

skulls in situ. 

(Archaeological 

Society of Jamaica.) 

Figure 3.2 

Earthenware pot 

containing infant 

remains. 

(Archaeological 

Society of Jamaica.) 


Figure 3.3 Beads associated with the skull. (Archaeological Society of Jamaica.) 

The bones were sent to Dr Elizabeth Wing (University of Florida), who 

identified them as belonging to a human infant. They included the distal end 

of a femur and the proximal ends of an ulna and radius. There were several 

ribs. Also present were bones belonging to a hutia (Geocapromys brownii, right 

acetabulum) and molluscs, including two large land snails (E.S. Wing, letter 

to author, 10 December 1991). 

Also unearthed was a single skeleton – the skull of which was rescued by 

Mr Errol Rhone, one of the workers on the site. His fellow workers, thinking 

that he was going to work obeah with the skull, crushed it into pieces, but 

the shattered remains were brought to George Lechler. On later examination, 

Lechler found four small beads associated with these remains (Figure 

3.3), which convinced us that this was indeed a Taíno burial. 

Faunal Remains 

There were thousands of shells on the site, as is the case on many Taíno middens. 

But in addition, this site contained some unusual remains. In mid-1993, 

Lechler was given a fragmented animal skull, which was badly broken and 

clearly not complete. Lechler was puzzled by what appeared to be a double 

row of molars in the lower jaw. A portion of the skull was sent to Dr Wing, 

who identified it as a young manatee, measuring 1.5 to 1.8 m in length (Wing 

1994). As far as Lechler is aware, this is the first time the remains of a manatee 

have been discovered on a Jamaican Taíno site. 

A triton shell about 11 cm in diameter at its widest part and 19 cm long 

was also discovered (Reid and Lechler 1993). The apex, or narrow end, was 

T HE P RE-COLUMBIAN S ITE OF C HANCERY H ALL,ST A NDREW 

49

chipped away. It is believed that this was a musical instrument, a horn that 

could have been used for signalling over long distances. A second shell, similar 

to the first but smaller, was also found. Conch-shell horns are, of course, 

still known in both Jamaica and Haiti, and Lechler has used them as a means 

of informing people that blasting is about to take place. 

Artefacts 

Many petaloid celts of various sizes, grinding stones, pottery sherds and griddles, 

amulets, pendants, beads and other objects have been found. A piece of 

bone carved to represent a dog’s head was recovered, as was a round, grooved 

sandstone object of unknown significance. 

In addition, three clay zemís and a sandstone zemí were found, as well as 

bits and pieces of several more zemís of the same type. The sandstone zemí 

is 9 cm high, 6.8 cm wide, and 5.3 cm thick from front to back. It has round 

inlet eyes, which Lee suggested might have been designed to hold gold leaf, 

and an elaborate crosshatched hair design. One of the clay zemís is particularly 

striking. It is 8.6 cm high, with a typical Taíno “skull face” encircled 

by a dotted headdress. The body has no arms or legs, and is rounded at the 

bottom. 

A piece of galena (lead-zinc ore), probably originating from the Papine 

area, was recovered. This ore is also known to be found elsewhere in the St 

Andrew area – for instance, at Smokey Vale, Belvedere. 

Dating 

In 1992, a charcoal sample was collected from the deposits just north of 

Horatio Drive near the boundary between lots 340 and 339 and sent to 

Miami for carbon-14 dating. Dr Jerry J. Stipp of Beta Analytic Inc., where the 

tests were carried out, reported a date of 690 ± 50 BP or AD 1260 ± 50. 

Dr Stipp’s report revealed that 

some intrusive rootlet contamination was present in the initial sample. After 

washing away all associated and adhering mineral matter, the charcoal pieces 

were lightly crushed for increased surface exposure; all remaining rootlets were 

removed by combination of flotation and handpicking. The charcoal was then 

chemically treated by repeat-soakings in dilute hot acid and alkali solutions to 

remove any carbonate or humic acid contaminants. After final thorough rinsing 

to neutrality in hot distilled water, the clean charcoal was gently dried, synthesized 

to benzene, and counted for radiocarbon content. The sample was of 

good quality and quantity, and all analytical steps proceeded normally. 


Conclusion 

This site is one of many circling the Liguanea Plain – Smokey Vale, 

Belvedere, Norbrook Gully, Skyline Drive, Wareika Hill and Harbour View. 

It is anticipated that more will be done to extract information from the 

Chancery Hall site before it is too late. 

II. 

Jamaica National Heritage Trust 

Excavations in 1996 

In view of the potential that the site clearly possesses and the threat posed to 

it by development in the area, the Jamaica National Heritage Trust undertook 

excavations at Chancery Hall in the period from 17 June to 2 July 1996. 

Mr Selvenious Walters (field coordinator) conducted the excavations under 

the overall supervision of Mr Roderick Ebanks (technical director and project 

coordinator) and with the participation of Ms Evelyn Thompson (acting 

deputy technical director and conservator). Other Jamaica National Heritage 

Trust members who took part were Ms Dorothy Griffiths, Mr Clifton 

McKen, Mr Ricardo Tyndall, Mr Ryan Murphy, and Mr R. Talbot. Two volunteers, 

Mr K. Farmer and Ms K. Redwood, accompanied them. 

The objective was to obtain a general idea of the site by putting down preliminary 

test pits in some of the lots scheduled for development immediately 

north and south of Horatio Drive. In itself, this area is no more than a fraction 

of the site as it originally existed, but it is the area from which Mr George 

Lechler and his associates rescued some of the most significant finds. Six 

1-m 2 test pits were dug, five in lots 340, 339 and 338 (north of Horatio Drive) 

and one in lot 308 (south of Horatio Drive). The arrangement of the test pits 

is shown in Figure 3.4. 

The maximum depth of deposit in test pit 1 was 90 cm and in test pit 3 was 

110 cm, whereas the others varied between 40 and 60 cm. All the pits were 

dug in horizontal 10-cm levels. A few historic artefacts (mostly glass bottles) 

were encountered near the surface in test pits 2, 4 and 5, but the overwhelming 

bulk of the material was pre-Columbian. Individual details of the excavated 

test pits follow. 

Test Pit 1 

Depth 90 cm. The most significant feature here was the discovery of human 

bones at a depth of 59–71 cm in the southeast corner of the pit. They were 


51

Figure 3.4 JNHT excavations at Chancery Hall. (Illustration by Selvenious Walters.) 

preserved upon a pedestal as excavation elsewhere proceeded to what was 

believed to be an archaeologically sterile horizon at the base. The human 

remains include a skull with mandible and teeth, and limb bones. But what 

was found was evidently not the entire skeleton. The remainder extended 

eastwards and southwards into the side of the pit. Conservation measures 

were undertaken on the spot, but no attempt was made to lift the bones, in 

view of the fact that part of the skeleton still remained buried. A further excavation 

would be needed to complete this operation, if it were felt to be desirable. 

On the basis of what was observed, it can be concluded that this was a 

deliberate burial. If the body had merely been left on the ground to decompose, 

the bones would have been more scattered than they were. In fact, they 


were confined to a small area and placed in such a way as to suggest that the 

body was buried in a flexed position. 

Test Pit 2 

Depth 60 cm. Some historic artefacts (green glass bottle fragments and a 

creamware sherd) were found in levels 1 and 2, but there were (comparatively 

sparse) pre-Columbian artefacts beneath, in a context generally characterized 

as terra rossa in type. Excavation stopped when an archaeologically sterile 

horizon appeared to have been reached. 

Test Pit 3 

Depth 110 cm. Significant concentrations of ash were detected, particularly in 

levels 4 to 7 but continuing deeper than that in places. They were associated 

with increased concentrations of shells, both marine and terrestrial. In levels 5 

and 6 a large portion of a griddle was found, including the rim. Again, it was 

excavated separately on a pedestal. It was treated in situ with a solution of consolidant 

before being carefully removed and transported to the conservation 

laboratory at the Jamaica National Heritage Trust. In the light of the general 

stratigraphic situation, it is considered that the griddle probably pre-dates 

the skeletal remains found in test pit 1. When a depth of 110 cm was reached 

in this pit, the soil was sterile. 

Test Pit 4 

Depth 40 cm. A few historic artefacts (green glass bottle fragments) were 

encountered in level 1. The pre-Columbian artefacts beneath were not 

numerous, but included a stone object the size and shape of a sewing-machine 

bobbin. Sterile soil was encountered at a shallow depth, indicating that 

as one goes up the hill the occupation deposits thin out. Limestone rocks are 

frequent, indicating that bedrock is near. 

Test Pit 5 

Depth 50 cm. Some historic artefacts (green glass bottle fragments) were 

found in levels 1 and 2. The matrix beneath, characterized as red bauxite in 

type, contained relatively few pre-Columbian artefacts. At the base it had 

become completely sterile. 


53

Test Pit 6 

Depth 40 cm. This is a steeply sloping area. Very few artefacts were found, and 

we believe that even these were displaced by erosion from their original place 

of deposition farther up the hill. Sterile soil was very quickly reached. 

In general, it appears that the major deposits with signs of Taíno occupation 

occur immediately north of Horatio Drive (test pits 1, 2, 3 and 5). Test 

pits 1 and 2 yielded relatively few artefacts compared with test pit 3, perhaps 

corresponding to a gardening area. The flat aspect that this part of the site 

currently possesses probably is a result of later agricultural levelling, attested 

to by the presence of some historic artefacts. The fact that no signs of a burial 

were discovered in test pit 2 indicates that this area as a whole did not function 

as a cemetery in Taíno times. Although the excavation in test pit 5 did not 

produce many finds, there are in fact large numbers of shells and artefacts now 

strewn on the surface of lot 340. There is no doubt that this area supported the 

bulk of the Taíno houses which once existed here. The part of the site around 

test pit 4 could also have been a gardening area, or it might have served as a 

stone tool–manufacturing centre. 

The preliminary investigation conducted by the Jamaica National Heritage 

Trust in 1996 revealed Chancery Hall’s importance as a major Taíno site 

worthy of thorough examination. Unquestionably there is more to be done 

here before the completion of the current development renders it no longer 

available. 

III. Excavations at Chancery Hall, 

1998 

A small excavation took place at Chancery Hall on 12–13 April 1998 as a 

joint project between the University of the West Indies and the University of 

Leicester. Work was carried out in two lots. On lot 340, a 1-m 2 quadrant was 

excavated to a depth of 15 cm. Apart from shells, artefacts recovered included 

ninety-six potsherds and one limestone flake. In addition, a section was cut 

in lot 386, by the boundary wall between it and lot 340 (see Figure 3.4). Layer 

3 contained abundant shells and artefacts comparable to those from the excavated 

quadrant. There were twenty-three potsherds, fifteen chert flakes and a 

limestone core. A visit to the site in 1999 revealed that there were still many 

artefacts and other traces of human activity eroding from the sediments in lot 

340, including five human teeth. 

The molluscan material from the two lots excavated in 1998 has been 


described in detail in Allsworth-Jones et al. (2001, reprinted in this volume, 

Table 2.1). In addition, a 7.5-kg sample of material from layer 3 in the section 

on the edge of lot 386 was subjected to microscopic analysis in the laboratory 

at the School of Archaeological Studies in Leicester. A.J. Gouldwell 

reports on the results of this analysis (see appendix). These two studies are of 

interest primarily for the light that they cast on the Taínos’ environment and 

their exploitation of it. The principal points may be summarized as follows. 

It is clear from the analysis that the marine gastropods and bivalves at the 

site are dominated by only five species: Neritina reclivata and N. piratica, 

Anadara ovalis, Chione intapurpurea and Crassostrea rhizophorae. Both species 

of Neritina occur in brackish water on intertidal mudflats, which also serve as 

the habitat for the first two bivalves. Crassostrea rhizophorae lives attached to 

mangrove roots. Hence, it is evident that the inhabitants collected their shellfish 

mainly from what is now the Kingston Harbour. The terrestrial gastropods 

at the site are dominated by Pleurodonte lucerna, but there is some 

doubt as to whether this really constituted an item in the human diet, since, as 

remarked earlier (Allsworth-Jones et al. 2001, reprinted in this volume), “there 

are many places in Jamaica where extensive accumulations of terrestrial gastropods 

are concentrated in soil profiles with no evidence of archaeological 

occupation”, and “a Taíno rubbish pit may have been a highly desirable habitat” 

for them. 

Several salient points emerge from the study carried out by Gouldwell. The 

study clearly shows the potential for microscopic work of this kind in recovering 

evidence which might not otherwise be available. Caution, however, is 

needed in the interpretation of the results. Even in well-stratified conditions 

such as this, there is a possibility of contamination and intrusion by fibrous 

roots. Thus, the interesting and well-preserved insect and scorpion remains 

are probably of recent origin, and the same goes for the two seeds. There is 

no need to doubt the antiquity of the wood charcoal, which is assumed to be 

an indication that the inhabitants used wood as fuel for cooking. There is an 

approximately equal representation of mammalian and fish bone fragments, 

though the minimum numbers of individuals represented are obviously much 

less than the fragments in the count. The mammalian remains probably all 

belong to hutia, but a limitation of this study is that no specific identification 

of the fish remains could be made. Some of the fish bones show signs of contact 

with fire, consistent with the hypothesis advanced to account for the presence 

of charcoal. Interestingly enough, the fish bones showed no sign of 

cracking caused by chewing, or of etching by gastric juices. The conclusion is 

that the fish were filleted before being eaten, but it is desirable that this suggestion 

be tested elsewhere. As Gouldwell says, the conclusion in general is 

that this was “a midden of food waste”. 


55

19.375 19.275 

1 

CHANCERY HALL, JAMAICA 

2 

Benchmark height 16.607 m 

3 

0 50 

cms 

4 

5 

6 

Limit of excavation 

5YR F34 Dark reddish-brown clay soil, topsoil 

2.5YR F38 Dark red clay soil, with some charcoal 

Shell layer 

7.5YR F34 Dark reddish-brown soil 

7.5YR F44 Dark brown clay soil (buried soil layer? old land-surface) 

5YR F44 Reddish-brown clay natural 

Figure 3.5 Stratigraphy of Chancery Hall 

56

Summary and Conclusion 

Following development of the Chancery Hall area, Mr George Lechler and 

his associates rescued some finds from the site. These included the remains 

of seven human burials, as well as a number of artefacts. In 1992, a charcoal 

sample from the deposits just north of Horatio Drive, near the boundary 

between lots 340 and 339, was dated by Beta Analytic to 690 ± 50 BP, equivalent 

to AD 1260 ± 50. 

Six test pits in four of the lots were excavated by the Jamaica National 

Heritage Trust in 1996 (Figure 3.4). The remains of another human burial 

were discovered in lot 338, as were additional artefacts including a large portion 

of a griddle. The great majority of the finds were pre-Columbian, but 

there were also a few historic pieces at the top of the sequence. The depth of 

deposits in the test pits varied between 40 and 110 cm. 

In 1998, a team from the University of the West Indies and the University 

of Leicester undertook a small excavation. A 1 m 2 quadrant was excavated to 

a shallow depth in lot 340, and a section was drawn at the boundary between 

lots 386 and 340. The material recovered is mainly of environmental interest, 

showing how the Taínos exploited the resources in their immediate surroundings. 

A 7.5-kg sample from layer 3 in the section was analysed in the laboratory 

at Leicester, confirming that this was a midden largely composed of food 

waste. 

While a certain amount of information has been recovered from the site, 

undoubtedly much more has been destroyed or is no longer available for study 

as a result of the development that has taken place. It is hoped that in future, 

when a proposed development will have an impact on an archaeological site, 

a concerted effort will be made to recover data in advance of construction. 


Thanks go to Dr Silvia Kouwenberg and Ms Susan Chung for their assistance with 

the excavation at Chancery Hall in 1998. 


57

Appendix 

A Laboratory Study of the Remains from 

Layer 3, Lot 386, Chancery Hall 

A.J. GOULDWELL 

Introduction 

A pre-Columbian shell midden at Chancery Hall was sectioned and excavated 

to a very limited extent in 1998 by a team from the University of the 

West Indies and the School of Archaeological Studies at the University of 

Leicester. A sample of the layer, context CH 98 lot 386: 3, was brought to 

Leicester for analysis and evaluation of macrofossil content. It was already 

apparent that the material contained substantial quantities of bone of small 

mammals and fish, and terrestrial and marine shell. The site is not situated 

on the coast, hence the marine shell, and very probably the fish, was transported 

to the site by the inhabitants of the time. Some large land snails were 

present, and small pieces of charcoal were also observed. Examination of the 

contents should suggest what resources were being exploited, and this in turn 

can be expected to raise questions about the relationship between the human 

inhabitants, their economy and the environment. 

The macrofossils were divided into classes suitable for analysis. Particular 

categories of material looked for included wood and other charcoal; crop 

residues; seeds representing the background vegetation; insects and other 

arthropods; molluscan shells; and bones of fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and 

mammals. 

Materials and Methods 

The sample was reddish-brown, loamy, with gritty inclusions of charcoal, 

shell, bones, stone and pot. The total mass was 7.50 kg. The consistency and 

colour of the sediment, together with the obvious presence of roots, suggested 

well-oxygenated conditions. This means that the primary mode of archaeological 

preservation of seeds would be charring rather than waterlogging or 

desiccation. 


The basic principle of separation of macrofossils employed was that of 

dispersion, wash-over and flotation (Kenward, Hall and Jones 1980). 

In the present case, successive subsamples were weighed out in 0.50-kg lots 

and dispersed in a 5-litre bucket of water. The material was stirred in with 

the water to ensure thorough mixing, and large inclusions such as stones, pot 

and large shells were removed manually. 

Floating and suspended material was decanted into nested sieves, the heavier 

residue remaining in the bottom of the bucket. Flot was collected in a 

500-µm mesh, which was adequate for retaining most seeds. A 4.75-mm 

mesh was placed on top to screen out roots and other coarse matter. 

Flot was resuspended in water when necessary, to clean it before decanting 

it into sieves to rinse out the silt. The flot was then allowed to dry on 

newspaper before sorting. 

Residue remaining in the bottom of the original bucket used for flotation 

was washed through nested sieves to facilitate sorting. Clogging of the sieves 

was a problem, so it was necessary to experiment with additional, coarser 

sieves to retain slowly disaggregating, coarse particles as well as a few remaining 

fibrous roots. Choice of meshes was pragmatic: the finest used was 

500-µm. Coarser ones used ranged through 2 mm up to 4.75 mm. Different 

sieve fractions were allowed to dry on separate sheets of newspaper to aid subsequent 

sorting of contents. 

All the material thus obtained was sorted into categories using a low-power 

lens for coarser material (larger pieces of charcoal, bone and shell), and a 

stereoscopic microscope with a zoom magnification set at H 0.7 or slightly 

higher for fine material (seeds, insects, smaller shells and charcoal fragments). 

Identifications are provisional, but every attempt was made to check with 

local specialists where appropriate. 

Results 

Fibrous roots formed a conspicuous component of the sample, warning of 

the likelihood of recent organic intrusion. Of the botanical remains, the most 

interesting finds are the fragments of wood charcoal. Two seeds that were 

found were probably of recent origin. Of the zoological remains, the bones 

and shells are probably reliable indicators of ancient human activity. The 

insects and other arthropods can probably be safely dismissed as more recent 

intrusions. Quantities are listed in Table 3.1. 


59

Table 3.1 All Recovered Organic Materials 

Class of Material Specimens MNI 1 

Plant Material 

Roots +++ n/a 

Wood charcoal ca. 125 n/a 

Seeds 2 

Animal Material 

Arthropods 19 5 

Molluscs 350 223 

Marine worms (serpulids) 3 2 

Bone 748 5 

Total 1,247 235 

1 MNI = minimum number of individuals 

Wood Charcoal 

Quantities are listed in Table 3.2. The vascular tissue of wood represented as 

charcoal was of diffuse, porous type, with vessels (seen in transverse section) 

distributed singly or in radially aligned groups of two. These are visible at a 

magnification of H 10. Seasonal, presumably annual, rings are discernible. The 

largest fragment (30 mm long) showed vessels grouped in a cluster of six, 

mostly in a radial line, with a couple of cells offset from that line. The fragments 

were not broken to produce clean surfaces to be examined; destructive 

analysis has been left to whoever does the final identification. 

The charcoal fragments were all of irregular shape and of insufficient size 

to reveal any indication of workmanship or stem growth form. The size range 

is indicated in Table 3.2. 

Table 3.2 Size Distribution of Charcoal Fragments 

Size 25–30 mm 15–25 mm 10–15 mm 5–10 mm 2–5 mm 

Fragments 2 2 6 25 ca. 90 

Seeds 

Two seeds were recovered. They were superficially similar to those of 

Ranunculus in outline, but are not flattened, and possess a warty surface and 

squarish base. Length 1.6 mm. Colour: light yellowish-brown. The appear- 


ance of the seeds is fresh, and it is strongly suspected that they are of comparatively 

recent origin. 

Insects and Other Arthropods 

Finds of arthropods are listed in Table 3.3. Most are disarticulated parts of 

insects: beetles (order Coleoptera); earwig (order Dermaptera) and what 

appears to be the head of an ant (order Hymenoptera). Additionally, there 

are components of claws of chelicerate arthropods, presumably scorpions. The 

remains appear to be in good condition: some of the body parts remain articulated, 

and the individual sclerites and other exoskeletal parts do not show 

obvious signs of degradation such as discolouration, cracking, perforation or 

abrasion (Kenward and Large 1998). In short, they look fresh (though a comparison 

with modern reference material of the taxa has not been made), with 

the earwig being the most complete. 

The earwig possesses intact cerci (posteriorly situated pincers or “forceps”) 

Table 3.3 Arthropod Remains 

Anatomical Part 

Number 

Insects 

Order Hymenoptera 

Head, antlike 1 

Order Coleoptera 

Thorax, including fused elytra 1 

Beetle femur/fibia, jointed 1 

Pronotum 1 

Ventral tergite 1 

Order Dermaptera 

Earwig abdomen with part thorax 1 

Miscellaneous (mostly Coleoptera?) 

More or less undiagnostic, chitinous plates 4 

Cf. head 1 

Scorpions 

Segments of ?same, disarticulated chelicera 4 

Limb segments with 3 ?related chelicerae 4 

Total 19 

61

of slim, more or less parallel shape, suggesting a female. There are nearly two 

thousand recorded species of Dermaptera worldwide (Sakai 1996). 

Beetles usually form the most conspicuous component of subfossil insect 

assemblages because of the toughness of their exoskeletons. In the present 

case, other groups seem to be present. The representation may not be abnormal, 

but experience of local subfossil insect assemblages would help in judging 

whether this collection is typical. Of the scorpions, the three “related” 

chelicerae (claws) in Table 3.2 are all pale yellowish-brown, while the four segments 

of the “same” chelicera are darker and more reddish-brown. All the 

chelicerae are fairly small, with the paler ones being clearly smaller than the 

darker. For secure identification, these should all be compared with reference 

material of different species and different age stages of scorpion. 

Molluscan Shell (and Serpulid Worm Cases) 

The presence of large molluscan shells was obvious, and some specimens 

were large enough to be extracted by hand. Among these larger shells were a 

mixture of thin-walled terrestrial specimens and a range of thick-walled 

marine or at least littoral species. The smaller molluscs were viewed under 

magnification. 

Total fragments amounted to 350, divided (for gastropods) into apices, 

apertures and whorl fragments and (for bivalves) into left and right umbones 

and valve fragments. In terms of minimum numbers of individuals, 225 specimens 

were recognized. Of these, 79 were marine gastropods, 74 were terrestrial 

gastropods and 70 were marine bivalves. The species represented were 

identified by means of voucher specimens returned to Jamaica for that purpose. 

The species so recognized were added to the rest of the sample from lot 

386 layer 3, and the grand totals appear in Table 2.1. The samples identified 

in Leicester were a recognizably similar subset of the totals for the site as a 

whole. 

There were at least two serpulid worms (class Annelida: family Serpulidae) 

represented by three fragments. These form a chalky, loosely whorled, tubular 

casing. Height ca. 3.5 mm. Serpulids are segmented worms, not molluscs. 

Bone: General 

Bone (Table 3.4) was mostly fragmented and ranged from 1.25 to 21 mm in 

size. The systematic groups represented included fish, possibly amphibian, 

and small mammal. Because of the comminuted nature of the material there 

was much that could not be identified. Reptilian bone was not recognized. 


Table 3.4 All Bone 

Bone material 

Specimens 

Piscean 390 

Cf. amphibian 3 

Mammalian 355 

Total 748 

Fish Bone 

Fish bone (Table 3.5) ranged from 16 mm to 1.25 mm in size. Of the total 

vertebral fish bones observed, nine (possibly more) showed signs of calcining, 

and seven showed partial or extensive blackening. Thus just over 8 per cent 

of the vertebrae showed signs of contact with fire. 

Measurements of characterizable fish bone are as follows: prevomer: 3 mm 

wide, 6.5(+?) mm long; premaxilla 10.5 mm long; tooth curved; straight line 

connecting furthest points, 3 mm; ribs, fin spines, pterygiophores, etc. 2.5–16 

mm long. 

An attempt was made to classify fish vertebrae in terms of anatomical position: 

anterior abdominal, abdominal, caudal (Wheeler and Jones 1989). Much 

of the bone was damaged, in that vertebral processes were often incomplete 

and thin laminae of opercular bones were broken, but there was no cracking 

of vertebrae suggestive of chewing or of etching by gastric juices (hydrochloric 

acid). It seems reasonable to assume that damage to the bone is postburial 

in origin. There was, however, some evidence of light burning. Caudal 

and abdominal bones are probably under-represented; a few abdominals may 

be damaged caudals, and the anterior abdominal figure might have been 

inflated if spiny processes have been broken from abdominals and caudals. 

The number of recorded bone elements, 390, may seem substantial, but 

when looking at the more characterizable bone, very few specimens are indicated. 

Three premaxillae can be reduced to two individuals. It will take specific 

identifications to improve the estimate of number of individuals. 

There were three anatomically unidentified bones, which may possibly 

have belonged to amphibians. 


63

Table 3.5 Fish Bone 


Number 

Vertebrae: large 

Caudal?, centrum: L 8.5 mm, H 8.5 mm 1 

L 3–6 mm 

Anterior abdominal vertebrae 6 

Abdominal vertebrae 5 

Caudal vertebrae 8 

Other large 

Urostyle, anterior facet: H 4.75 mm 1 

Smaller vertebrae, L 1.25–3.0 mm 

Anterior abdominal vertebrae, L 1.25–3.0 mm 77 

Abdominal vertebrae: L 2–3 mm 38 

Caudal vertebrae incl. one urostyle 27 

Unplaced 29 

Total vertebrae 192 

Other bones 

Articular 2 

Dentary 1 

Premaxilla 3 

Hyomandibular 1 

Prevomer 1 

Tooth 1 

Pterygiophores 23 

Fin spines 38 

Ribs 6 

Miscellaneous* 122 

Total non-vertebrate 198 

Overall total 390 

Note: L = length of centrum, H = height of centrum. 

*Miscellaneous includes unsorted ribs, fin spines and rays, detached neural and haemal 

spines, etc. 

64

Mammalian Bone 

All the mammalian bone (Table 3.6) seems to have come from small mammals, 

which should mean they are all of hutia, Geocapromys brownii (order 

Rodentia: family Capromyidae). The bones and fragments ranged in size from 

2.5 to 21 mm. Of the two mammalian lower-jaw fragments, one contained 

three molariform teeth with one empty socket; all the teeth were missing from 

the other. 

Table 3.6 Mammalian Bone 


Number 

Skull 1 

Loose, molariform teeth 10 

Dentary (both right side) 2 

Vertebrae 6 

Ribs 8 

Scapula (blade/spine fragment) 1 

Humerus (distal) 1 

Ulna (proximal articulation) 1 

Femur (proximal) 1 

Tibia (distal part of shaft) 1 

Calcaneum (tibiale) 1 

Cf. metatarsal 1 

Proximal phalanx 1 

Total identified 35 

Total unidentified ca. 320 

Discussion 

The sediment is loose and friable and therefore apparently well suited for 

wash-over and flotation and subsequent wet sifting of the non-floating 

residue. Without flotation and sifting, most of the fragments of charcoal, bone 

and smaller shells, particularly of land snails, would probably have been lost in 

the course of manual extraction of finds. It was found, however, that particles 

tended to break down slowly and cause clogging of the meshes. Shell material 

needed cleaning after separation from the sediment. 


65


Survival of arthropod exoskeletons normally depends on either desiccation 

or anaerobic waterlogging, neither of which condition seems to apply 

here. The remains of insects and other arthropods seldom survive as articulated, 

complete specimens. In the present case, such finds were predominantly 

of disarticulated units of chitinous exoskeleton, with the notable exception of 

the substantial part of an earwig and an articulated leg of a probable beetle. 

This suggests – particularly in such a small sample, and in the light of root 

penetration and the oxidation status of the sediment – that much of the insect 

fauna represents recent intrusion. In a larger sample, it might be possible to 

recognize a continuum through states of preservation, with recent additions 

being in near-perfect condition and the oldest specimens showing advanced 

decay. 

Shells of small terrestrial molluscs are assumed to have arrived there more 

or less naturally, being too small to have been gathered intentionally. The concentration 

of larger shells, both terrestrial and marine, on the other hand, can 

most easily be explained as the result of intentional gathering for food. This 

also applies to the presence of bones of fish and hutia. Most of the marine 

shells span a size range that one might expect for molluscs harvested for 

human consumption, but there are also some very small specimens. 

Charcoal in the present context is probably indicative of fuel for cooking, 

and a few fragments of bone show signs of burning. It might be interesting to 

obtain identifications of the woody species present in order to compare with 

present vegetation. Use of particular species for fuel can be a matter of definite 

choice rather than random collection (Prior and Tuohy 1987). 

Only a small quantity of bone showed signs of burning, so combustion 

must have been part of the cooking process or a source of nighttime light and 

warmth, rather than a means of waste disposal. 

Fish must have been brought to the site intentionally, presumably to be 

eaten, and filleted before consumption, as there is no evidence of chewing or 

of etching by digestive juices (hydrochloric acid). 

Apart from bats, there is one surviving species of native mammal in 

Jamaica, a local species of hutia, Geocapromys brownii. The most economical 

interpretation is that the mammalian bone is all of hutia. 

The remains were mostly broken up, and there may have been scavenging 

by dogs, though the bones are too small to show convincing tooth marks. It 

may be just possible that reptilian bones, such as those of iguana, were present 

and not recognized, given the fragmented nature of much of the assemblage, 

but teeth, characteristically durable parts, were all identifiable as 

mammalian, apart from the few fragments of mouth-parts of fish. 

Statistics have been calculated to measure the usefulness of a range of sample 

sizes (Van der Veen and Fieller 1982). The present sample serves to pro-

vide a list of taxa present, but the statistical value of the figures varies for each 

class of material. 

The sample of 1,247 objects gives an estimate, with a 98 per cent level of 

confidence, of the proportions of constituents of the midden overall. Fish 

and mammal bone occur in numbers of 390 and 355, respectively, but actually 

reduce to very few individual creatures, below any level at which statistical 

analysis has any meaning. Shell can be counted as something in the order 

of 225 individuals (rather less than the total number of fragments). 

Fortunately, in this case the results could be combined with the rest of the 

material from the site to give a satisfactory overall classification (Allsworth- 

Jones et al. 2001, reprinted in this volume). 

Taking more samples would bulk up the sample sizes for all classes of 

material and would permit a determination of degree of homogeneity, on 

which normal statistical descriptors depend. It is plain, however, that a considerably 

greater quantity of material is needed for a satisfactorily detailed 

analysis of the bone content. 

Conclusions 

The sedimentary material is quite amenable to disaggregation and microscopic 

analysis. The oxidation state and presence of abundant roots suggests 

that the oxidizable remains recovered – arthropods and seeds – were probably 

of recent origin. The most useful classes of material are wood charcoal, molluscan 

shell and bones. 

It seems clear that the deposit represents a midden of food waste, primarily 

of fish, mammal (hutia), and land and maritime shellfish, with charcoal fragments 

from a cooking fire. Insects and seeds seem to be contaminants from 

more recent levels. Statistically, the sample gives a promising prediction of the 

rest of the midden in terms of broad classes of data, but for a detailed description 

of the individual groups – bone, charcoal, shell – more material ought to 

be sampled. The maximum volume of material to be processed would probably 

be governed by considerations of cost rather than of statistical theory. In 

any case, a programme of taking pilot samples, similar in size to the present 

examples, for mutual comparison would help clarify longer-term needs. 

It is apparent that the small terrestrial snails would be worth a more 

detailed examination for any clues to environmental, as opposed to economic, 

history. Seeds do not seem to be important as a source of evidence. It would 

be interesting to see whether future investigations will yield carbonized evidence 

of this class of material. 

In general, it is clear that for satisfactory analysis a good collection of reference 

material is needed. 


67


Thanks are due to Dr Robert Young for much practical assistance in the laboratory, 

and to Dr Frank Clark of the School of Biological Studies, University of Leicester, 

for confirming the identification of the scorpion remains. 


4 

Excavations at Green 

Castle, St Mary 

P HILIP 

and 


K IT 

W ESLER 

A JAMAICAN TAÍNO archaeological project was initiated in 

1998 as a joint programme of the Department of History (University of the 

West Indies, Mona) and the Wickliffe Mounds Research Centre (Murray 

State University, Kentucky). The project is co-directed by Dr P. Allsworth- 

Jones and Professor K.W. Wesler, and excavations have so far concentrated on 

the site of Green Castle, near Annotto Bay (St Mary), on the north coast of 

the island. The purpose of this chapter is to provide a brief account of the 

results achieved so far. 

Excavations at Green Castle 

Following a survey of available sites, it was decided that the joint University of 

the West Indies–Murray State University Jamaican Taíno archaeological project 

would concentrate first on excavations at Green Castle, and these excavations 

ran for three seasons from 1999 to 2001. An advantage of the site was 

that it appeared to be largely undisturbed, and it was thought that it would 

permit questions to be addressed concerning both the settlement structure and 

the exploitation of the environment by the pre-Columbian inhabitants. The 

site was first reported by Ms Jean Crum-Ewing and was mapped by JamesLee 

in 1978 (Lee 1978b). The excavations were made possible thanks to the generous 

support of the landowner, Mr Duncan MacMillan, and the cooperation 

of the general manager, Mr Robin Crum-Ewing. Financial support was 

provided both by the University of the West Indies and by Murray State 

Originally published in 2003, in Proceedings of the Nineteenth International Congress for 

Caribbean Archaeology, Aruba, 2001: 186–93. 

69

SOUTH 

NEGRIL 

POINT 

Savannala-Mar 

Montego Bay 

JAMAICA 

GALINA POINT 

Green Castle 

Estate 

Mandeville 

May Pen 

Spanish 

Town 

KINGSTON 

MORANT 

POINT 

PORTLAND 

POINT 

32 km 

20 mi. 

Figure 4.1 Location of Green Castle 

University, and during the last season by the National Geographic Society and 

the Reed Foundation. The details given below are taken from the preliminary 

annual reports on the excavations which have so far been submitted 

(Allsworth-Jones and Wesler 1999–2001). 

The general position of the site is indicated on the map in Figure 4.1. It is 

a hilltop overlooking the sea, and the contours of the hilltop are shown in 

Figure 4.2. Over the three years, six trenches were excavated, designated 

according to their position in relation to site datum. The three westernmost 

trenches, excavated in 2000, were shallow and yielded very little information. 

The northernmost trench (0–2S 9–10E) was also quite shallow and was evidently 

affected by erosion and deflation. Conditions were quite different for 

the middle trench on the eastern side (30–31S 7–10E, later extended to east 

and north) and the southernmost trench on the eastern side (58–60S 5–6E). 

The southernmost trench produced the most complete stratigraphy, to a maximum 

depth of 1.5 m. On its eastern side, the middle trench reached a maximum 

depth of 80 cm. Three consecutive occupations were detected in the 

southernmost trench, separated by reddish, gravelly, more or less sterile layers. 

The difference between the two lowest occupations was particularly clearly 

marked, the basal level being completely sealed by a horizon of large loose 

rubble up to 25 cm thick. The situation was much more complex in the eastern 

part of the middle trench, where it became apparent from 2000 onwards 

that we were dealing with an artificially cut burial pit and probably other cutand-fill 

features as well. In 2001 a complete adult burial was uncovered here, 

lying on bedrock. 

A number of radiocarbon dates for the site have been obtained from the 

Beta Analytic laboratory. For the southern trench they are as follows. 

Occupation 3 Level 2: 330 ± 60 BP (cal AD 1470–1645) 

Level 3: 430 ± 80 BP (cal AD 1420–1616) 



0 5 10m 

grid datum 

elevation datum 

AE 100m 

contour interval 0.5m 

elevation point 

paved path 

100.5 

100.0 

97.34 

20N 

10N 

101.5 

97.87 

0N/S 

98.54 

10S 

98.86 

20S 

100.0 

100.5 

100.0 

98.88 

30S 

101.0 

101.5 

102.0 

98.85 

40S 

100.5 

102.5 

98.47 

50S 

103.0 

103.5 

97.94 

60S 

104.0 

97.46 

70S 

103.0 

102.5 

96.60 

80S 

102.0 

101.5 100.5 

101.0 100.0 

95.84 

90S 

40W 30W 20W 10W W0E 10E 20E 30E 40E 

100S 

Figure 4.2 Green Castle contour map 


Level 13: 920 ± 60 BP (cal AD 1024–1209) 

Rounding, as suggested by Kit Wesler, it can be stated that occupation 1 

extended from about AD 1075 to 1250. There is an overlap here with occupation 

2, but this is consonant with the hypothesis advanced by Dr Simon 

Mitchell (Department of Geography and Geology, University of the West 

Indies) that the rubble horizon separating the two may have represented a 

E XCAVATIONS AT G REEN C ASTLE,ST M ARY 

71

sudden event. Occupation 3 can be considered to have lasted from about AD 

1440 to 1550, assuming that the latter is the practical upper limit for Taíno 

settlement of the site. There are no indications of Spanish contact, even in the 

uppermost deposits. 

The dates in the middle trench are as follows. 

Level 2: 70 ± 50 BP modern 

Level 3: 750 ± 60 BP (cal AD 1223–1294) 

Level 7: 480 ± 80 BP (cal AD 1403–1469) 

Burial 1: 670 ± 40 BP (cal AD 1286–1385) 

The date for burial 1 is a date determined by accelerator mass spectrometry 

(AMS). As can be seen, the dates for the burial and level 3 are similar, and 

are broadly comparable to those for occupation 2 in the south trench. The date 

for level 7 corresponds with that for occupation 3 in the south trench, and, 

on the face of it, there is a stratigraphic inconsistency here. As mentioned 

above, however, there is a cut-and-fill situation in this part of the trench, and 

we also observed possible signs of disturbance by roots and rodents. These factors 

may explain the apparent discrepancy. 

In addition to these dates, a number of oxidizable carbon ratio (OCR) age 

determinations were obtained for the site, according to the method described 

by D.S. Frink (1994). In his work at the Wickliffe site in Kentucky, Kit Wesler 

found these determinations reliable and consonant with the radiocarbon dates 

(Wesler 2001). At Green Castle there are evident discrepancies between the 

two methods, which may be due to the fact that the model used for OCR dating 

tends to assume a steady build-up of deposits, and the mode of formation 

at Green Castle may have been quite different. 

Apart from burial 1 in the middle trench, a burial of a child was discovered 

in the south trench, and a small extension on its western side was excavated 

so that the inhumation could be uncovered and, eventually, removed. 

Burial 2 occurs at a depth of about 35 cm. The date of 430 ± 80 BP (cal AD 

1420–1616) was obtained on material in immediate proximity to it; hence evidently 

it belonged to occupation 3. 

The two burials were analysed and partly excavated by Dr Ana Luisa 

Santos, of the Department of Anthropology, Coimbra University (Santos 

2001). They are shown in Figures 4.3 and 4.4. Burial 1 is that of an adult, 

probably a male, who was interred in a flexed position, with an associated 

ceramic vessel at his feet. The individual was lying on his left side, with the 

right hand gripping the left forearm. The individual recovered in burial 2 is a 

child, with an estimated age at death of about seven years. The inhumation 

was in a flexed position, with all the bones from the lower limbs so contracted 

as to suggest that he or she may have been bound before burial. The child 


Figure 4.3 Burial 1 

Figure 4.4 Burial 2 

was lying on its right side, with the left hand gripping the right elbow. In their 

general posture, therefore, there is a definite parallel between the two burials. 

The bulk of the archaeological material consists of ceramic fragments as 

well as chert and other stone pieces. In general, the decoration would appear 

to indicate that this is a White Marl site, with no traces of Redware. 

Obviously this definition requires more sharpening up, which we hope to 

achieve by comparing the material to other collections in the island. Some of 

the more unusual pieces found include potsherd and shell discs, a bone nee- 

E XCAVATIONS AT G REEN C ASTLE,ST M ARY 

73

dle, a ground stone artefact that may be a fragment of a monolithic axe, a fragment 

of a petaloid celt and several beads. There are large numbers of shells, 

which are being analysed by Dr Simon Mitchell. Apart from pleurodonts, 

which may well occur naturally at the site, the majority identified so far are 

marine gastropods which live mostly in the intertidal zone on the rocky shore, 

about 3 km from the site. In the first year, more than seven thousand fragments 

of bone were recovered. Jessica Allgood completed a study of these 

bone fragments, using the resources of the University of Southern Mississippi 

and the Florida Museum of Natural History (Allgood 2000). In her study 

she identified at least twenty-seven species of fish, as well as land mammals 

including, for the first time in Jamaica, the remains of guinea pig. Dr Betsy 

Carlson (Southeastern Archaeological Research Inc., Gainesville) is presently 

conducting the faunal analysis recovered from the later excavations. 

Conclusion 

In future, we intend to investigate another hilltop occurrence on the Green 

Castle estate, that of Newry. Mr Robin Crum-Ewing discovered this site in 

1985 and it was mapped by Lee in that year (Lee 1985a). To all appearances, 

it could well turn out to be as extensive and productive as the first site. We also 

hope to examine other localities in the area, such as Coleraine and Iter Boreale 

(Lee 1970b, 1970c). A suggestion originally made by Lee about Coleraine 

raises the possibility that all these sites formed part of the Guayguata settlement 

noted by Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo in the Annotto Bay area, a 

settlement whose name was later corrupted to Wagwater (Padron 1952; 

Fernández de Oviedo 1959). We hope that a broader study of this type will 

allow us to address general questions about Taíno regional political organization 

on the eve of the Spanish conquest. 


5 

The Impact of Land-Based 

Development on Taíno 

Archaeology in Jamaica 

A NDREA 

R ICHARDS 

THE DESTRUCTION OF archaeological sites is a worldwide 

problem. The issue of striking a balance between site preservation and development 

is common to many countries, in particular developing countries such 

as Jamaica. It has become apparent that with each passing year sites are being 

destroyed, and site destruction as a result of development will continue. 

The threats to sites in Jamaica are numerous. Archaeological sites have to 

contend with looting, not just by the average citizen, but also by professionals 

who seek to build their private collections of artefacts. Other major threats are 

vandalism (as a result of insensitivity and ignorance), real estate development, 

raw-material extraction (mining), farming, natural disasters, tourism and infrastructural 

development. Examples of these threats are illustrated in Table 5.1. 

This chapter seeks to examine two major threats to Taíno sites in Jamaica 

Table 5.1 Examples of Threats to Taíno Sites 

Threats 

Housing development 

Quarrying 

Farming 

Wave erosion 

Tourism development 

Infrastructural development 

Sites Affected 

Harmony Hall, Clarendon 

Treasure Beach, St Elizabeth 

Old Harbour Hill, Clarendon 

Old Harbour, St Catherine 

Bull Savannah, St Elizabeth 

Little Miller’s Bay, Manchester 

Long Acre, St Elizabeth 

Auchindown, Westmoreland 

Canoe Valley, Manchester 

75

– infrastructural development through major road construction (such as the 

Old Harbour Bypass, the North Coast Highway Project and Highway 2000) 

and real estate development, particularly housing solutions. These threats are 

collectively referred to as land-based development. Solutions for all parties 

involved in the preservation of Jamaican archaeological resources will also be 

examined. 

Table 5.2 illustrates that the total number of recorded Taíno sites in 

Jamaica is 357; of this total, 53 or 14.9 per cent of these sites have been 

reported destroyed. Half of these were destroyed as a result of land-based 

development (infrastructural and real estate). Farming, natural disasters and 

raw-material extraction contributed towards the destruction of 26.3 per cent 

of the sites, and the cause of the destruction of 24.5 per cent is undetermined. 

These data suggest that land-based development is responsible for half of the 

various impacts on archaeological sites. This information is by no means complete 

and is based only on sites recorded to date in the Jamaica National 

Heritage Trust’s Sites and Monuments Record (SMR). Taíno sites are still 

being located, and there may be many more sites that have been destroyed, but 

no record is evident. 

Table 5.2 Recorded Number of Destroyed Taíno Sites in Jamaica by Parish 

Parish 

Parish 

Site 

Totals 

Infrastructural 

Farming 

Real 

Estate 

Development 

Rawmaterial 

Elements 

Extraction 

Other/ 

Uncertain 

St Ann 71 2 2 1 3 – 1 

St Mary 31 – 2 – – – 

St Elizabeth 37 2 – – – – 1 

Portland 0 – – – – – – 

St Thomas 20 1 – 1 – 1 

Clarendon 40 2 1 1 1 2 1 

St Catherine 29 1 1 1 – – – 

Hanover 23 3 – – – – – 

Kingston and St Andrew 20 1 3 – – 1 – 

Trelawny 22 – 1 – – – 2 

Westmoreland 19 1 1 1 – 1 2 

Manchester 20 – – – – 1 2 

St James 25 – – – – – 3 

Total sites 357 13 13 5 4 51 3 

Source: Compiled by author from the Jamaica National Heritage Trust’s National Inventory of Sites. 


The Agents of Development and the Role of the 

Jamaica National Heritage Trust 

The Government of Jamaica, through various agencies, promotes development 

work in Jamaica. The three primary agencies concerned with development 

are as follows: 

1. The Urban Development Corporation is a statutory body created by the 

Government of Jamaica primarily to ensure that development takes place 

in an orderly manner throughout Jamaica. 

2. The National Works Agency, formerly the Public Works Department, 

concentrates on managing government infrastructure through maintenance 

and construction. 

3. The National Housing Trust was established in 1975, mainly to accelerate 

housing development throughout the island. 

These agencies are the major players – through the Ministries of Transport 

and Works, Water and Housing, and Land and the Environment. There are 

other instrumental organizations, such as the Jamaica Bauxite Institute and 

the National Environment and Planning Agency, which also have input into 

development issues. Another organization that carries out real estate development 

is the National Housing Development Corporation, a merger of the 

Caribbean Housing Finance Corporation, the National Housing Corporation 

and Operation PRIDE. In addition, there are many private developers who 

handle the construction of housing schemes, hotels and resorts, and arterial 

and secondary roads. 

Agencies carrying out large-scale development are required to conduct an 

environmental impact assessment. This assessment will sometimes include a 

cultural history component or an archaeological impact assessment. The 

archaeological impact assessment will give an estimation of the impact this 

particular development will have on the archaeological heritage of the area in 

question. The Jamaica National Heritage Trust is the government agency with 

the mandate of protecting the nation’s historic and archaeological heritage. 

The Jamaica National Heritage Trust Act of 1985 grants to this body the 

power to protect sites from inappropriate development. When the Jamaica 

National Heritage Trust is contacted, an archaeological impact assessment or 

a heritage survey is conducted and recommendations are made. Impact assessments 

were virtually nonexistent before the North Coast Highway project 

began in the late 1990s (Ainsley Henriques, personal communication, 2002). 

The Jamaica National Heritage Trust may recommend mitigation measures 

from a shift in the road alignment (so that the site can be spared if it is a significant 

find) to the initiation of rescue archaeology ahead of major soil 

T HE I MPACT OF L AND-BASED D EVELOPMENT ON TAÍNO A RCHAEOLOGY IN J AMAICA 

77

emoval. Sometimes what is required is simple monitoring of the site when it 

is being cleared – if the nature of the site was not ascertained previously or its 

boundaries established (this is called a watching brief ). 

In general, developers have been hesitant to report findings of artefacts to 

the relevant authorities, as the result could mean losing work time and having 

their projects delayed while the site is surveyed or excavated. An impact 

assessment is seen by some as being time-consuming, a waste of money and 

an unnecessary hindrance to the work of developers. The Jamaica National 

Heritage Trust has been contacted on some occasions; however, in many 

instances work goes on without its knowledge, approval or recommendations 

(Dorrick Gray, personal communication, 2002). 

Another problem is that penalties for noncompliance are insufficient. A 

person who wilfully defaces, damages or destroys any national monument is 

guilty of an offence, and on conviction is liable to a fine not exceeding 

J$40,000 or imprisonment not exceeding two years – or both ( Jamaica 

National Heritage Trust Act 1985). The fine seems low in relation to the 

priceless nature of historic and archaeological sites. 

Many Taíno sites have already been destroyed, and many more sites 

unknown to researchers will continue to be destroyed as the bulldozers of 

development move in without the necessary and proper assessment of the land 

in question. The White Marl Taíno site in St Catherine is the only declared 

Taíno site in Jamaica (Roderick Ebanks and Lloyd Wright, personal communication, 

2002). The Jamaica National Heritage Trust Act of 1985 gives 

the trust power to halt development through the issuance of preservation or 

declaration notices. This often occurs where there are visible structures 

remaining above the ground. However, the Taíno left no structures above the 

ground; the remnants of Taíno existence remain below the earth, and it is 

easier to destroy what is not seen. When structures are not present on a site, 

it is easier for developers to clear it. Soil removal on the 14.5-km Old Harbour 

Bypass led to the discovery of three Taíno sites. Many more Taíno sites were 

located along the North Coast highway route. These sites have been partially 

or completely destroyed. Sites, once destroyed, are irreplaceable and their 

material remains irretrievable. 

The Impact of Road Construction 

North Coast Highway, Highway 2000, the Old Harbour Bypass and South 

Coast Sustainable Development Study illustrate the effect of road construction 

on Taíno sites across the island. 


The North Coast Highway Improvement Project 

The North Coast Highway Project is a 255-km roadway extending from 

Negril, Westmoreland, to Port Antonio, Portland. The highway has three segments: 

• Segment 1 – Negril to Montego Bay (71 km) – completed 

• Segment 2 – Montego Bay to Ocho Rios (92 km) – not completed 

• Segment 3 – Ocho Rios to Port Antonio (92 km) – not started 

This highway project has affected several Taíno sites. Segment 1 saw the 

partial and complete destruction of Taíno sites at Mosquito Cove, Barbican 

and Kew in Hanover. The Jamaica National Heritage Trust conducted watching 

briefs and pre-development excavations on the sites at Rhodes Hall, 

Haughton Hall, Green Island, Cousins Cove, Flint River and Paradise (all in 

Hanover). Seven watching briefs were conducted during segment 1, as were 

three pre-development rescue excavations and eleven re-routings; two archaeological 

and historic sites were recorded and reconstructed. 

A few sites that will be affected by segment 2 of the highway were 

reviewed. Jamaica National Heritage Trust archaeologists conducted a watching 

brief on the Taíno site at Little River, St Ann (one of the earliest dated 

sites in the island). The predicted impact of this highway development was 

not clear, as the boundaries of several sites were never established and some 

documented sites were not located. The proposed realignment also posed a 

threat to the site at Rio Bueno, Trelawny. 

Barbican, Hanover 

Archaeologists from the Jamaica National Heritage Trust located the Taíno 

site at Barbican in Hanover while carrying out surveys ahead of a major clearing 

of lands designated for the North Coast Highway Segment 1 project – 

Montego Bay to Negril. A field-walking exercise revealed a surface littered 

with Taíno pottery, some already fragmented by the tractor clearing the land. 

Rescue archaeology was conducted by the Jamaica National Heritage Trust, 

and several unique pottery pieces were found, along with a Taíno burial. The 

site is now a part of the highway (Figure 5.1). 

Highway 2000 

Highway 2000 is a 230-km toll highway being constructed to open the country 

to roads and highways and increase access to new territories. The largest 


79

Figure 5.1 Road cutting through the Taíno site at Barbican, Hanover 

infrastructural development to date in the country, it is designed to be 

Jamaica’s pathway to the future (Highway 2000 Supplement, 2002). The 

highway is also designed to open the country’s tourism “hotspots” by connecting 

the tourism centres in Montego Bay, St James and Ocho Rios, St Ann. 

Highway 2000 is intended to facilitate direct and efficient links between economic 

centres and to stimulate additional economic development in Jamaica. 

• Phase 1 – Kingston to Mandeville (74 km) 

• Phase 2 – Bushy Park to Ocho Rios (67 km) 

• Phase 3 – Mandeville to Montego Bay (85 km) 

The exact highway path has not been finalized, so the anticipated impact has 

not been ascertained. 

The Old Harbour Bypass 

The Old Harbour Bypass is a 14-km roadway linking Sandy Bay, Clarendon, 

and Nightingale Grove, St Catherine. It is a major part of the South Coast 

Highway development programme. Three Taíno settlements were noted – at 

Freetown, Inverness and Toby Abbott (all in Clarendon) – by Jamaica 

National Heritage Trust archaeologists conducting an archaeological impact 

assessment during the construction of the Old Harbour Bypass (Figure 5.2). 

Rescue excavations were conducted on all three sites. On the Inverness site, 

the developers and archaeologists reached a compromise. The intended road 

could not be moved from its planned location, so it was agreed that the road 

would be elevated into a gravel foundation, 2 m high, thus saving the site from 

destruction. 


Figure 5.2 Road cutting through a portion of the Toby Abbott Taíno site 

South Coast Sustainable Development Study 

This study was undertaken by a team led by Sir William Halcrow and 

Partners to ascertain the feasibility of development along the south coast of 

Jamaica. The south coast is home to some of the least developed sections of 

the country and is considered “ripe for infrastructural development”. It is also 

home to numerous historic and archaeological sites in the island, including 

many Taíno sites. Technical reports were prepared for the following areas: terrestrial 

resources, environmental audit and issues, marine resources, hydrology, 

geology and natural hazards, land use and planning, physical infrastructure, 

tourism, agriculture and aquaculture, socio-economic review, legal and institutional, 

and framework and cultural heritage. 

A total of sixty-four Taíno sites, including villages, middens, burial/ritual 

caves and cave art sites, were identified in the study area, which ranges from 

Great Salt Pond, St Catherine, to the Negril Green Island, Westmoreland. 

The study area encompasses sections of the parishes of Westmoreland (five 

sites), St Elizabeth (nineteen sites), Manchester (fourteen sites), Clarendon 

(eighteen sites) and St Catherine (eight sites). 

The Impact of Housing Developments 

A great deal of land in Jamaica is allocated to housing developments, affecting 

archaeological sites throughout the island. Numerous houses have been 

built in the archaeologically sensitive Bluefields area of Westmoreland. The 

Taínos settled in locations that could be described as “prime settlement areas”. 


81

Later on the Spanish settled in these areas, followed by the English (for 

instance, Seville and Bellevue sites in St Ann). The majority of these areas 

have been selected for housing development. The cases of Chancery Hall and 

Long Mountain, both in St Andrew, illustrate the impact of housing development 

on Taíno sites. 

Chancery Hall Phase Two, St Andrew 

The subcontractors for the Chancery Hall Phase Two housing development 

discovered the Chancery Hall Taíno site (Figure 5.3) in St Andrew in 1990, 

during drilling and blasting for the construction of roadways and pipe 

trenches. People who dealt with antiques reported that whole pots were recovered 

from the site, along with a well-preserved stone axe and a stone arrow 

point. A pot containing bones was also located. Seven burials were found at 

the Chancery Hall site. 

In 1993, archaeologist Carey McDonald of the Jamaica National Heritage 

Trust visited the site and noted that it appeared to be a “major Amerindian 

site” (McDonald 1993). All but one of the middens had been dug unprofessionally. 

The archaeologist noted three areas: 

• Area 1 – Three middens were located (one extensive and two moderate). 

• Area 2 – This area was extensively cleared (topsoil clearing and extensive 

trenching) Three extensive middens were located. McDonald also noted 

that the contextual pattern of the soil might have been destroyed because 

of the tractor clearance of the land. 

• Area 3 – This area was located along Lord Nelson’s Drive, where tractors 

had exposed a large midden. Coney jawbones, flint, griddle fragments 

and potsherds were evident from this clearing. 

In 1994, archaeologists from the Jamaica National Heritage Trust visited 

the site again, seeking information about the site boundaries and who was 

responsible for the current structural development, as the Jamaica National 

Heritage Trust had not received formal notification about the development 

project. The site was examined further and excavated. This examination 

revealed that a house was to be built in an area that had previously been identified 

as an archaeologically sensitive area. Another part of the site had been 

almost completely destroyed by treasure hunters and looters. Layers of topsoil 

had been removed by earth-moving equipment. Roads had been cut, and 

preparations were being made for housing construction. There was also extensive 

trenching in the area where the Taíno skeletons had been located. 

Chancery Hall is a major Taíno site which has yielded large quantities of artefacts. 

Radiocarbon dating of the site in 1992 had placed it at AD 1260 ± 50. 


Figure 5.3 Chancery Hall Taíno site, St Andrew 

The archaeological value of the site was diminished as a result of the developers’ 

actions. It is unfortunate that the areas where Taíno sites are located 

are those that have been selected for real estate development. Archaeologists 

believe that many other Taíno sites have been destroyed in other hilly areas 

of Kingston and St Andrew, such as Norbrook. 

Long Mountain, St Andrew 

Concerns about the development of Long Mountain were not just archaeological 

in nature. In addition to housing several archaeological sites, in particular 

Taíno sites, Long Mountain is the only remaining locale of dry 

limestone forest in Kingston and St Andrew (see Figure 5.4). Archaeologists, 

land developers and environmentalists agreed that development would take 

place only on a section of the mountain behind Beverly Hills and facing 

Kingston Harbour. The area designated for the housing development was 

excavated ahead of development. Recommendations were made for changes 

in road alignment, and the developers followed these suggestions. The section 

facing the University of the West Indies, Mona, would be preserved, as this 

side was also the home of a number of larger Taíno sites that are in need of 

further professional research ( JNHT Survey 2002). 

Jamaican archaeologists have not been able to conduct long-term research 

on most Taíno sites. Long-term work was conducted at the White Marl Taíno 


83

Figure 5.4 Long Mountain prior to development 

Figure 5.5 Construction activity at the Long Mountain site. (Courtesy of Selvenious 

Walters.) 

site in St Catherine, which to date is believed to be the largest Taíno site in 

Jamaica. Information from this site opened the gates to Taíno research in 

Jamaica, but island-wide, sites researched by professional archaeologists constitute 

a minority. It is possible that information about the Taínos, gleaned 

from properly researched sites, may be used to attract public interest and support 

for further research. 

It is difficult in the context of development to properly investigate 

sites.When the sites become known, all that can be done is to record them, if 


they have not previously been recorded, and carry out rescue archaeology to 

retain what is possible. Preservation is done on sites that can be preserved in 

the hope that they will one day be effectively and systematically researched 

before becoming threatened by development once more. 

Preservation and research of Jamaica’s Taíno sites will undoubtedly provide 

insights into their culture and evolution as a people and society, and their 

interaction with the African and European cultures with which they came in 

contact. Only by researching the sites and making comparisons with other 

sites will archaeologists be able to draw academic conclusions on the life of the 

Taíno. Properly investigated, sites enable interpretations of the past that cannot 

be made otherwise (McManamon 2000, 5). 

Recommendations 

The Government of Jamaica, like the governments of many developing countries, 

is more concerned about managing unemployment, crime and other 

challenges of a growing population than about understanding the Taínos and 

their role in our history. Culture, at times, is perceived as expendable in the 

context of development. 

The government and the Jamaica National Heritage Trust should require 

that impact assessments be carried out for any land-based development work 

in Jamaica. The Jamaica National Heritage Trust will have to become more 

proactive with developers regarding the destruction of sites, which should 

carry stiffer penalties. Public-sector agencies dealing with development projects 

should be informed of any archaeological heritage in the area and invited 

into partnerships with the Jamaica National Heritage Trust. The trust should 

also consider reviewing its policies to ensure that it becomes more proactive in 

carrying out its mandate. Decision makers should also seek the assistance of 

countries that have successfully solved at least some of the conflicts between 

development and preservation. Collaborative efforts will be required, and concessions 

will have to be made by both sides. For instance, the Inverness site in 

Clarendon, along the Old Harbour Bypass, was at risk of being destroyed. The 

developers met with archaeologists from the Jamaica National Heritage Trust, 

the two parties agreed that since the road could not be moved, it would be elevated 

onto a gravel foundation; no digging would take place, and the site 

would be preserved. Developers and cultural resource managers will have to 

sit at the same table, hammer out differences and make serious decisions. This 

was the case for the Long Mountain Steering Committee, which consisted 

of representatives from the University of the West Indies, the National 

Arboretum Foundation, the Jamaica National Heritage Trust and the 

National Environmental and Planning Agency as well as the developers; 


85


among other collaborative efforts, the developers provided the Jamaica 

National Heritage Trust Archaeology Division with a weekly work plan. 

Some sites will be preserved, and others will not. Where is the line to be 

drawn? Should attempts be made to preserve all sites or a select few? If only 

a few sites are to be preserved, how will their relative importance be evaluated? 

Sometimes a lack of communication is the only thing obstructing research 

on a site ahead of development. Incentives should be offered to developers to 

ensure that development does not severely damage sites, as sometimes developers 

are unaware of the options they have. One approach might be to collaborate 

with developers to create green spaces in sensitive areas and thereby 

preserve Taîno sites that would otherwise be destroyed or damaged. 

The public cannot be excluded, as they constitute possibly the largest body 

of potential preservationists. Until individuals are properly educated about the 

Taínos, their culture (and its contribution to the Jamaican culture) and the 

importance of the Taíno legacy, the significance of the loss of Taíno sites will 

not be understood. Heritage parks should be set up depicting the life of the 

Taíno. Sites have already been lost along the Old Harbour Bypass and the 

north coast; however, educational exhibits could be set up to inform people 

that a Taíno site once existed there. The Jamaica National Heritage Trust 

should have a larger presence in schools, present more seminars, use the news 

media more effectively and take legal action against those who destroy archaeological 

and historic sites. 

Protection of our Taíno sites cannot depend only on preservationists; it 

must be a nationwide initiative backed by effective government policies. “The 

greatest benefit of archaeological resources is what we can learn about the past 

from them and the links they have as material remains to important past 

events, individuals or historical processes” (McManamon 2000, 5).

Section 2 

Taíno Exploitation of 

Natural Resources 

THE TAÍNOS WERE heavily dependent on natural resources, and this was 

reflected in every aspect of their lives. Adaptation to a new environment is 

essential for survival. The floral and faunal remains from a site are useful indicators 

for the reconstruction of the natural environment as well as providing 

information on subsistence patterns, exploitation of plants for the creation of 

products, and human impact on the natural environment. This section illustrates 

the importance of natural resources for the Jamaican Taínos. 

Wendy Lee’s “Notes on the Natural History of Jamaica” introduces the 

reader to the natural history of Jamaica. Lee concisely discusses the geology 

and geography of the island, highlighting the flora and fauna. 

The second chapter in this section is “The Exploitation and Transformation 

of Jamaica’s Natural Vegetation”, by Lesley-Gail Atkinson. In 1991, 

John Rashford published “Arawak, Spanish and African Contributions to 

Jamaica’s Settlement Vegetation”, identifying the human selective pressures on 

Jamaica’s vegetation. Atkinson applies Rashford’s principles to demonstrate 

the Taínos’ impact on the natural vegetation and their role in the introduction 

of new flora. 

Sylvia Scudder’s chapter, “Early Arawak Subsistence: The Rodney Site of 

Jamaica”, reports on the analysis of the faunal remains recovered in 1978 from 

Rodney’s House, St Catherine, by John Wilman and Colin Medhurst. 

Scudder not only identified and analysed the faunal remains but also compared 

the results with those from the sites at Bellevue, St Andrew, and White 

Marl, St Catherine, to determine the subsistence patterns of the Jamaican 

Taíno. 

87

6 

Notes on the Natural 

History of Jamaica 

W ENDY 

A. LEE 

THE TERM NATURAL HISTORY loosely refers to the study and 

appreciation of nature and natural resources, including both living species and 

their habitats. These notes include brief descriptions of Jamaica’s geology, climate, 

landforms, major ecosystems, flora and fauna. 

Size and Location of Jamaica 

Jamaica is one of a group of four islands called the Greater Antilles, located 

in the Caribbean Sea. It is 235 km long by 82 km wide; its area is 11,400 

km 2 . 

Geology 

Jamaica is a land mass on the Caribbean Plate. The oldest rocks in the island 

are volcanic in origin and over 100 million years old, but most of the bedrock 

is limestone deposited on the seafloor between 45 and 12 million years ago, 

while the land mass was submerged beneath the sea. There have been two 

major periods of tectonic activity (uplifting, folding and faulting), the first 

starting about 65 million years ago and the second about 12 million years 

ago. Most major landforms of the island as we know it were formed within the 

past 5 to 10 million years, after the island finally emerged from the sea. 

Jamaica has never been connected to the mainland of North America, but 

when sea levels were much lower than present, about 18,000 years ago, there 

was a chain of islands between here and Central America. Table 6.1 describes 

major events in the island’s formation. 

89

Table 6.1 Geologic Time and Corresponding Events in the Formation of the Island 

of Jamaica 

Geologic Time 

Event 

110 to 65 million years ago Volcanic islands spew lava and ash into coastal waters, 

(± 45 million years) 

which over time form a thick layer of sedimentary 

rock. 

65 to 50 million years ago First major uplifting (tectonic activity) begins. Rocks 


are uplifted and folded, mountains rise up from the 

seafloor and some land areas sink under the sea. New 

rivers form and begin to erode the rocks and deposit 

new sediments on old rocks. Active volcanoes remain 

only in the Wagwater Trough, on a diagonal line 

between Port Maria on the north coast and Bull Bay 

on the south. 

50 to 12 million years ago The land begins to subside beneath the sea and within 

(± 5 million years to subside, about 5 million years is totally submerged. For the 

33 million years of deposition) next 33 million years calcium carbonate is deposited 

from the skeletons of tiny marine organisms, forming 

a layer of pure white limestone up to 2,400 m thick 

that makes up two-thirds of the island’s bedrock. 

12 to 2 million years ago Second major uplifting, folding and faulting of the 


land, followed by erosion as the limestone dissolves 

over the next 10 million years. This causes the island 

to emerge from the sea and results in the formation 

of the karst landscape in the Cockpit Country and the 

deposition of bauxite and “terra rosa” soils in 

limestone cavities. Large amounts of sand and gravel 

are also deposited along the north and south coasts, 

up to 150 m thick in places. 

2 million years ago to The present-day river systems emerge from the older, 

the present time 

underlying rocks. They erode and deposit tons of 

material downstream, forming broad alluvial plains, 

especially on the south coast. 

Source: Porter 1990. Information summarized and tabulated by Wendy Lee. 

90

Soils 

Several different soil types are found in Jamaica, depending on the source 

material and the processes that have formed them. The main soil types and 

their locations are listed in Table 6.2. 

Table 6.2 Main Soil Types of Jamaica and Associated Landforms 

Soil Type 

Rich volcanic soils formed from igneous 

and metamorphic rock 

Limestone and “terra rosa” (red dirt), rich 

in bauxite 

Alluvial soils, sand, silt, gravel, clay 

Associated Landforms 

Mountain ranges in the northeast 

and centre of the island 

Interior hills and plateaus 

Lowlands (interior valleys and 

coastal plains) 

Source: Porter 1990. 

Major Landforms and Vegetation Types 

The major landforms of Jamaica are 

• Mountain ranges 

• Hills and plateaus 

• Interior valleys 

• Coastal plains 

• Rivers 

• Shoreline 

• Cays and banks 

Mountain Ranges 

The Blue Mountains are the highest of Jamaica’s mountain ranges, at 

2,256 m. The John Crow Mountains are lower and further east. Both have 

patches of montane cloud forest and rain forest and are high in endemic 

species. The Port Royal Mountains form the foothills of the Blue Mountains. 

The Dry Harbour Mountains are found in the north-central part of the 

island. The Hellshire Hills in the southeast are important for endemic vertebrate 

species, including the endangered Jamaican hutia or “coney” 

(Geocapromys brownii) and the Jamaican iguana (Cyclura collei). 

N OTES ON THE N ATURAL H ISTORY OF J AMAICA 

91

Hills and Plateaus 

The Cockpit Country in the northwest is a fine example of karst topography 

(egg-box–shaped hills and valleys with many caves, formed as limestone was 

dissolved by acidic rain and groundwater). It has a mixture of wet evergreen 

forest and seasonally dry deciduous forest and is high in endemic species of 

plants (more than one hundred) and animals. There are many caves, and rivers 

that disappear into the ground and reappear further downstream. 

A plateau is an area of relatively flat land on top of a range of hills or mountains. 

The Manchester Plateau is in the main central range. It consists of 

rolling hills, with hillsides and valleys mostly planted or in pasture. Parts of the 

area have been extensively mined for bauxite. 

Interior Valleys 

Major interior valleys include Lluidas Vale, St Thomas in the Vale, the Nassau 

Valley, Queen of Spain’s Valley and Cave Valley. 

Coastal Plains 

An almost continuous strip of coastal lowland surrounds Jamaica. On the 

north coast there is a narrow coastal plain – usually less than 2 km wide – with 

lush vegetation nurtured by plentiful rainfall from the prevailing northeasterly 

trade winds. The south coast has a broad coastal plain, several kilometres wide 

in places, with a variety of ecotypes: semi-arid lands (for example, parts of 

the St Thomas, St Catherine and St Elizabeth coastlines), dry limestone scrub 

forests (St Catherine, Clarendon and Manchester coasts), mangrove forests 

(St Thomas, Kingston Harbour, St Catherine, Clarendon, St Elizabeth and 

Westmoreland), herbaceous swamps (Black River Upper and Lower morasses, 

St Elizabeth, Negril Morass, Hanover and Westmoreland), and marsh forests 

(Black River Lower Morass and Westmoreland). 

Rivers 

Major north-flowing rivers include the Rio Grande, Wagwater, Martha Brae, 

White River and Great River. Major south-flowing rivers include the Black 

River (the largest river in the island, navigable for 40 km upstream), Plantain 

Garden, Rio Cobre, Rio Minho, Cabaritta, and Milk River (all of which are 

longer than 32 km). 


Shoreline 

On the north coast, there are mainly white sand beaches derived from coral 

reefs close to the shore. Towards the east there are some rugged, pebbly 

beaches, derived partly from stones and sand washed down by rivers. Much 

of the south coast has black sand beaches, with particles of metallic oxides carried 

from the interior and deposited by south-flowing rivers. Many south 

coast coral reefs are far from shore (several kilometres in some areas) and 

contribute proportionally less to beach sands than on the north coast. 

Climate 

Jamaica has a maritime tropical climate. Trade winds blow from the northeast, 

especially in the summer. Hurricane season is July through November. 

Jamaica has frequent storms but few direct hits. There are two rainy seasons, 

in May and October/November. Kingston, Hellshire and southern St 

Elizabeth, in the rain shadow of the Blue Mountains and central ranges, 

receive the least rain. Portland, in the northeast, receives the highest rainfall in 

the island. 

Average temperatures: 

Mean annual rainfall: 

Range of rainfall: 

28E C (78E F) at sea level 

15E C (56E F) at 2,000 m above sea level 

Approximately 200 cm 

75–500 cm 

Ecosystems 

An ecosystem is a community of living creatures (plants and animals) and 

their non-living environment (soil, water, air, and so on) in a particular area, 

which together form a self-sustaining natural system. Ecosystems found in 

Jamaica are 

• Forests 

• Caves 

• Rivers, streams and ponds 

• Wetlands 

• Coral reefs 

• Banks and cays 

• Seagrass beds 


93

Biodiversity 

Biodiversity refers to the variety and abundance of life forms in a particular 

place or ecosystem. Biodiversity comprises flora (plants) and fauna (animals). 

Indigenous species are plants and animals that naturally occur in a particular 

country but may also be found elsewhere in the world. An endemic species is 

any kind of plant or animal that is found only in a particular area (usually 

refers to a country). For a small island, Jamaica has a relatively large number 

of endemic species of flora and fauna – species that are found nowhere else in 

the world. 

Examples of biodiversity include flowering plants such as grasses and 

palms, orchids, cacti and ferns, and fauna including mammals, birds, reptiles, 

amphibians, fish and invertebrates. 

Flora 

Jamaica is well known for its many species of flowering plants and ferns, more 

than four hundred of which are considered threatened or endangered due to 

clearing of land and other changes in habitat or over-harvesting. Flowering 

plants include numerous species of orchids, bromeliads, cacti, palms, trees, 

vines, shrubs and grasses. Approximately 30 per cent of the island’s flowering 

plants are endemics. Indigenous plants include the national flower, the lignum 

vitae (Guaiacum officinale), pimento (Pimenta dioica), pawpaw or papaya 

(Carica papaya), sweet potato (Ipomea batatas), pineapple (Ananas comosus), 

cassava (Manihot esculenta) and guava (Psidium guajava). Many of the island’s 

most familiar and useful plants have been introduced since European colonization 

in the sixteenth century. Introduced plants include ackee (Blighia sapida), 

breadfruit (Atrocarpus altilis), coconuts (Cocos nucifera), mangoes 

(Mangifera indica), bananas and plantain (Musa spp.) and a great many ornamental 

plants used in horticulture. The latter include hibiscus, bougainvillaea, 

oleander, anthuriums, and poinsettia. Many introduced plants have become so 

Table 6.3 Total Number of Species 

Total Species Endemic Species Per cent Endemic 

Flowering plants (all) 3,003 830 28 

Orchids and bromeliads 267 82 31 

Ferns 579 82 14 

Source: Adams 1971, 1972; Bretting 1983a, 1983b; Johnson 1988. 


well established, especially in disturbed or urban areas, that they are replacing 

native species and threatening their survival in some parts of Jamaica. 

Table 6.3 provides estimates of the total number of species and the number 

and per cent of endemic species of some distinctive Jamaican plant groups. 

Fauna 

Mammals 

The Jamaican hutia or coney (Figure 6.1) is a rabbit-sized 

endemic rodent which is now very rare and hard to find. 

Three or four species of the more than twenty species of 

bats are endemic. The West Indian manatee (Trichechus 

manatus) occurs here as well as elsewhere in the region. The 

mongoose is an introduced mammal which has become a 

pest to farmers and indigenous wildlife, as have rats and 

mice and feral dogs and cats. 

Birds 

Over 200 species of birds are found in Jamaica, 113 species bred in Jamaica, 

and at least 25 species (possibly as many as 30) are endemic. Well-known 

endemic species include Jamaica’s national bird, the streamertail hummingbird 

or doctor bird (Trochilus polytmus), the Jamaican woodpecker (Melanerpes radiolatus), 

and the Jamaican tody or robin redbreast (Todus todus). Endemic 

species that are endangered include the yellow-billed and black-billed parrots 

(genus Amazona), the ring-tailed pigeon (Columba caribaea) and the Jamaican 

blackbird (Nesopsar nigerrimus). There may have been an endemic Jamaican 

macaw that became extinct soon after the arrival of Columbus. The West 

Indian whistling-duck (Dendrocygna arborea) is a Caribbean endemic species 

that is considered endangered throughout its range. 

Reptiles 

Native reptile species include several small lizards (of which seven 

are endemic, including the green lizard); the endangered endemic 

Jamaican iguana; the American crocodile; nine snakes, including 

the large Jamaican boa (yellow snake); four species of sea turtles 

(see Figure 6.2), all of which are highly endangered worldwide; 

and the endemic pond turtle. The lizard-like galliwasps are also 

endemic. In all, there are thirty-three endemic reptiles. 

Figure 6.1 Jamaican 

hutia or coney. 

(Oliver 1983, 53.) 

Figure 6.2 Hawksbill 

turtle 


95

Fishes 

Of the many freshwater fishes found in Jamaica’s rivers and streams, three 

species are endemic (minnows). Hundreds of marine species are found in 

Jamaican waters, but none are endemic. 

Amphibians 

Twenty-one endemic amphibian species are present in Jamaica. They include 

certain cave-dwelling species of frogs and bromeliad frogs. 

Invertebrates 

This broad group includes insects, molluscs and many other classes of animals 

without backbones. Unique in the world is the bromeliad crab, which lives in 

the water at the base of bromeliads in the limestone forests. The endangered 

endemic giant swallowtail butterfly is one of over one hundred butterfly 

species found here. It is found in only two areas, the Cockpit Country and the 

Blue and John Crow Mountains. With a wingspan of up to 15 cm, it is one 

of the world’s largest butterflies. Jamaica has high levels of diversity in many 

insect groups, including fireflies (forty-eight species, of which forty-five are 

endemic). 

Jamaica’s mollusc fauna is among the most diverse in the world. There are 

about 550 species of land snails, of which 505 (92 per cent) are thought to be 

endemic. Of the 52 species of millipedes so far described from Jamaica, 48 (92 

per cent) are endemic. There are thousands of species of marine invertebrates 

in Jamaican waters, including hard and soft corals, molluscs and crustaceans. 

Table 6.4 Numbers of Endemic Species 

Mammals Birds Reptiles Amphibians Fish 

5 30 33 21 3 

Source: Johnson 1988; Raffaele et al. 1998; Vogel, lecture, 1998. 


Ann Haynes-Sutton reviewed these notes and provided valuable suggestions that have 

been incorporated into the document. Her assistance and contributions are gratefully 

acknowledged. 


7 

The Exploitation and 

Transformation of Jamaica’s 

Natural Vegetation 

L ESLEY-GAIL 

ATKINSON 

NATURAL VEGETATION IS influenced largely by topography, climate 

and precipitation. At present, forests occupy over 265,000 hectares or 24 

per cent of Jamaica’s total land mass (NRCA/NEPA/MLE 2001, 10). The 

island has an estimated 3,304 species of vascular plants, of which 923 (27.9 

per cent) are endemic (ibid., 9). From an archaeological perspective, a limited 

amount of work has been done with regard to environmental studies of the 

island and the reconstruction of the natural vegetation. 

The vegetation of Jamaica has undergone changes since the first human 

occupation of the island, more than thirteen centuries ago. All the major 

racial/ethnic groups that have inhabited the island have contributed to the 

island’s present vegetation, as John Rashford (1991) discusses in his article 

“Arawak, Spanish and African Contributions to Jamaica’s Settlement 

Vegetation”. In it, Rashford applies the concept of human selective pressures 

to the Taínos. The Taínos were the first to have assisted in the transformation 

of the vegetation, whether deliberately or inadvertently. This chapter 

demonstrates the Taínos’ impact on Jamaican vegetation and discusses the 

archaeological and ethnographic evidence for their utilization of endemic, 

indigenous and introduced flora, in particular the cassava (Manihot esculenta). 

Evidence of Flora 

Palaeoethnobotany refers to the analysis and interpretation of archaeobotanical 

remains to elucidate the interaction between human populations and 

plants (Hastorf and Popper 1988, ix). Colin Renfrew and Paul Bahn (2000) 

describe several different methods in which archaeologists derive informa- 

97

tion from plants, with the objectives of reconstructing the plant environment 

and determining subsistence and diet, evidence of trade and various ways in 

which societies utilize flora. Useful indicators for examination and analysis 

include macrobotanical remains, microbotanical remains, associated artefacts, 

art, and historical and ethnographic texts. 

Macrobotanical Remains 

The analysis of macrobotanical remains includes the study of seeds and fruits, 

plant residues and charcoal (Renfrew and Bahn 2000, 244–46). In Jamaica, 

faunal analysis has significantly overshadowed floral analysis. The excavations 

at White Marl, St Catherine, and Chancery Hall, St Andrew, highlight 

the importance of the recovery and analysis of faunal remains. The recovery of 

macrobotanical remains has been largely limited to the collection of charcoal, 

primarily for dating purposes. For example, a charcoal sample from Chancery 

Hall dated the site AD 1260 ± 50 (Lechler 2000, 11). The excavations conducted 

by Bill Keegan at Paradise Park, Westmoreland, have encouraged the 

recovery of macrobotanical remains from Taíno sites in an effort to reconstruct 

the natural environment. 

Microbotanical Remains 

The examination of microbotanical remains includes the analysis of pollen, 

phytoliths, fossil cuticles and plant DNA (Renfrew and Bahn 2000, 239–44). 

Unfortunately, to date there is no evidence that analysis of microbotanical 

remains has been conducted in the island. 

Associated Artefacts 

Tools associated with certain activities can be useful indicators of plant use. 

According to Renfrew and Bahn, tools can prove or at least suggest that plants 

were processed at a site, and on rare occasions may indicate the species and the 

use that was made of it (2000, 276). However, in the absence of supporting 

evidence, such as remains of domesticated plants, associated artefacts are inadequate 

indicators of such features (ibid.). Some artefacts are multifunctional, 

and without supporting evidence it is difficult to determine what function or 

activity was performed at the specific site. In Jamaica, there are many artefacts 

associated with plant use that have been found across the island, and these 

objects can at least be used as possible evidence. 


Art 

Art can be religious, functional, aesthetic or documentary (Atkinson 2002). 

Taíno art forms include idols, figurines, duhos, cave art and other items 

(Moure and Rivero de la Calle 1996). Prehistoric art can be useful in illustrating 

the importance of plants and how they were utilized by various societies. 

Jamaica has a number of examples of Taíno art; however, the motifs of 

Jamaican petroglyphs and pictographs are primarily zoomorphic and anthropomorphic 

(Atkinson 2002). 

Texts 

Most of our information on Taíno exploitation of plants and agricultural practices 

is derived from Hispanic ethnographic data. Gonzalo Fernández de 

Oviedo’s The Natural History of the West Indies highlights some of the uses of 

plants by the Taínos of Hispaniola – and invites the reader to assume that similar 

techniques were used by the Jamaican Taínos: “All that I have said of the 

people and other things of Hispaniola applies in part to Cuba, Puerto Rico, 

and Jamaica” (1959, 19). 

Because so little work has been done on macro- and microbotanical 

remains in the island, the arguments in this chapter rely on other evidence: 

associated artefacts, art and ethnographic texts. 

Taíno Impact on the Natural Vegetation 

The Jamaican Taínos and their predecessors, the Ostionoids (Ostionan and 

Meillacan), were the first to have an impact on the island’s vegetation. 

According to Rashford, humans assist, directly or indirectly, in the transformation 

of natural environments. The intentional and unintentional selection 

of plants in the environment produces distinctive settlement vegetation that is 

an expression of the historical development of their way of life (1998, 37). 

When the Ostionoids arrived in Jamaica around AD 650, they must have 

found incredibly rich natural resources: 

The West Indian forests contained an abundance of wild fruits and vegetables, 

including palms, guava berries, and guáyiga, a cycad with edible roots. Saltwater 

fish, shellfish, and waterfowl were available along the shores, especially in estuaries, 

mangrove swamps, and reefs, which provided shelter from the open sea. 

Manatees and turtles could also be hunted there. The food resources varied 

from island to island, making it possible for the natives to develop extensive 

trading networks. (Watters and Rouse 1989) 

T HE E XPLOITATION AND T RANSFORMATION OF J AMAICA’ S N ATURAL V EGETATION 

99

The Ostionoids undoubtedly sought to recreate a familiar environment in 

their new home. The Taínos assisted in the transformation of Jamaica’s natural 

forests into settlement vegetation by two main human selective pressures: 

the impact on wild plants and the cultivation of domesticated and wild plants 

(Rashford 1991, 18). 

According to Rashford, there are three human responses to wild plants: 

they are destroyed to make space, to remove interference and to create useful 

products; they are tolerated when they do not interfere with human activities; 

and when they are valued, they are protected and cultivated (ibid.). It is 

believed that the Taínos removed and altered the natural vegetation in order 

to establish settlements and areas for cultivation and to create useful products. 

Settlements 

When the Taínos’ predecessors arrived, they must have required space for 

dwelling and other functions. It is logical to assume that the natural vegetation 

was altered first along the coasts. There is a consensus among archaeologists 

that the coast is generally settled first, and then expansions are made into 

the interior. Presumably, the natural vegetation was removed at areas where 

the newcomers wished to establish settlements. 

The Ostionans – or, as they are locally known, the Redware culture – were 

the first known inhabitants of Jamaica. They settled primarily on the south 

coast, and in the interior of what is now the parish of St Ann (Lee 1980). 

Examples of Redware sites in the island are Alligator Pond or Bottom Bay, 

Manchester; Great Pedro Bay, St Elizabeth; Paradise Park, Westmoreland; 

and Little River, St Ann. All of these sites are located within the coastal plain. 

The Meillacan occupation of the island commenced around AD 900 and 

continued to the point of European contact. The Meillacan distribution of 

sites ranges from coastal settlements such as Old Harbour Bay, St Catherine, 

to sites in the limestone hills and plateaus such as Mount Rosser, also in St 

Catherine. Certain areas of the island contained nuclei of Taíno settlements, 

as seen in the parishes of St Catherine, St Ann, St Mary and St James. 

Cultivation 

Agriculture was an important component of Taíno subsistence (and will be 

discussed later in the section “Cultivation of wild and domesticated plants”). 

Land would have been allocated for the cultivation of essential crops. Any disturbance 

of the natural vegetation cover provides growth opportunities for 

plants not normally dominant (Alexander 1969, 126). In “The Vascular Flora 


of Long Mountain”, Andreas Oberli of the National Arboretum Foundation 

highlights the presence of invasive species such as woman’s tongue (Albizia 

lebbeck), which is normally found on Taíno sites where land has been cleared 

for cultivation (Proctor and Oberli 2002). Mr Oberli had identified woman’s 

tongue on the Long Mountain Taíno sites (ibid.). Another invasive species, 

logwood (Haematoxylum campechianum), despite being introduced in 1715, 

appears on Taíno sites across the island (Selvenious Walters, personal communication, 

2002). The presence of logwood on Taíno sites could also be an indicator 

of land that had been cleared by the Taínos for cultivation. 

The Creation of Useful Products 

According to Bray and Trump (1982, 180), much of man’s material equipment 

came and comes from vegetable matter – food, fibres for clothing, construction 

material for tools and houses, and so on. The Taínos were very resourceful, 

utilizing the endemic and indigenous plants to manufacture necessary 

commodities. 

Housing 

According to Fernández de Oviedo, the houses of the Taínos (see Figure 7.1) 

are made of substantial framing, with walls of canes tied with lianas, which are 

round vines or filaments that grow on large trees and interlaced with them. 

The lianas are all sizes and sometimes the natives cut and prepare those they 

need to tie the timber and supports of the house. The walls are made of 

canes placed close together, plastered over with earth four or five fingers 

thick, and extend to the top of the house. The houses are covered 

with straw or long grass which is well placed and lasts a 

long time. (1959, 39) 

In Jamaica, an indigenous wild cane (Gynerium sagittatum) 

is readily accessible along the riverbanks. The blue mahoe 

(Hibiscus elatus) and red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) 

(Adams 1972) are other species that would have been available 

for the construction of Taíno homes. The island has large 

lianas, Tanaecium jaroba and the endemic Combretum robinsonii 

(Clarke 1974), which could have been used to tie the canes together; the blue 

mahoe also was a source of good rope (Adams 1971). The varieties of 

Jamaican thatch – silver thatch (Coccothrinax jamaicensis), broad thatch 

(Thrinax excelsa) and long thatch (Calyptronoma occidentalis) – provide plentiful 

roofing material that is still used in contemporary Jamaica. At this point 

Figure 7.1 Fernández 

de Oviedo’s illustration 

of Taínan caney. 

(Rouse 1992, fig. 4.) 


101

there is no direct material evidence to state that Taínos utilized these plants; 

however, ethnographic information and the present and historical functions of 

the plants suggest that they are likely to have been used. 

Fishing 

Fish was an important source of protein for the Jamaican Taínos. The Taínos 

built canoas and made poisons to assist in fishing. In Jamaica the Taínos were 

known for their majestic canoas. “Columbus later saw the biggest and best 

made Arawak canoes in Jamaica during his second voyage. Those belonging 

to the caciques of that island were elaborately decorated for they were the 

greatest symbols of their status” (Walker 1992, 58). Bernaldez wrote that “one 

Jamaican canoe measured later by Columbus proved to be no less than 96 

feet in length and 8 feet wide” (ibid., 241). According to Viviene Wallace 

(1992, 88), there is evidence suggesting that the Taínan canoes were large 

and sturdy enough for deep-sea fishing, and analysis of fish bones recovered 

from kitchen middens revealed that some of the fish consumed by the Taínos 

were indeed deep-sea fish. 

The West Indian cedar (Cedrela odorata) and the silk cotton tree (Ceiba 

pentandra) were durable sources of wood for the construction of canoas. The 

prow of a cedar canoe was found at the Halberstadt Cave, St Thomas. A full 

canoe found in 1993–94 in downtown Kingston consists of a single piece of 

wood (so far unidentified), is rounded at both ends and has a flat bottom 

with markings (presumably resulting from its construction) 

on both sides (Allsworth-Jones et al. 2001). Contemporary 

Jamaican fishermen still use the wood of the silk cotton tree 

for dugout canoes, whose construction is similar to those 

made by the Taínos (see Figure 7.2). 

Wild cane (Gynerium sagittatum) is also used to make 

arrows and lances (William Keegan, personal communication, 

2002; Figure 7.3). The firmness of the cane and the 

absence of nodes make it the perfect material for spears. In 

1935, at Old Harbour, St Catherine, several stone projectile 

points were found, suggesting that the Taínos of Jamaica 

made arrows or spears (Lovén 1935). 

Cotton 

Figure 7.2 Dugout canoe from 

Black River, St Elizabeth 

Cotton, from the cotton shrub (Gossypium spp.) (Adams 

1972), was an essential, multifunctional product for Taínos. 

It was used for making hammocks, as described by 


Figure 7.3 William Keegan explaining the use of the wild cane to participants at the 

Paradise Park 2002 excavations 

Fernández de Oviedo (1959, 42): “The beds in which they sleep are called 

hamacas [hammocks], which are pieces of well-woven cotton cloth. . . . On the 

end they are covered with long cords made of cabuya (century plant) and of 

henequén (sisal hemp).” Cabuya and henequén belong to the Agave species. 

Cotton was also used for making fishing nets and other articles of domestic 

use. A wooden spindle with a fishbone needle was found at Image Cave, 

Manchester, and spindle whorls were recovered from the sites at Chancery 

Hall, St Andrew, and Alligator Pond, St Elizabeth. These artefacts indicate 

that cotton or other fibres were being woven at these sites. The cotton was 

extracted from the pods and freed from the seeds; afterwards, it was pulled by 

hand into a long, uneven, loose band. One end of this was fastened to the 

hook or needle at the end of the spindle. Spindles were used in pairs and 

were held between the thumb and one finger of the left hand. A spinning 

and twisting motion produced cotton threads, which were then woven into 

cloth. 

Sven Lovén (1935) reported that Jamaica furnished cotton cloth and hammocks 

to the islands of Cuba and Española [Hispaniola], which had been 

Spanish already for some time. It was also said that the Jamaican Taínos made 

sails for some Spanish ships (ibid.). 

Abundant net sinkers were found across the island at Taíno sites such as 

Harbour View, Kingston and St Andrew; Seville, St Ann; and Rio Nuevo, St 

Mary (Figures 7.4 and 7.5). Net sinkers are inorganic evidence of fishing nets, 

to which they were previously attached as weights. These nets would have 

been made of cotton. 


103

Figure 7.4 Two-notched net sinkers. 

(Illustration by James W. Lee, 

Archaeological Society of Jamaica.) 

Figure 7.5 Four-notched net sinkers. 

(Illustration by James W. Lee, 

Archaeological Society of Jamaica.) 

Dyes 

According to Irving Rouse, Taíno married women wore short skirts called 

naguas (1992, 11). These skirts or aprons were made from cotton. Fernández 

de Oviedo adds that the Taínos used seeds, berries, leaves and bark to colour 

their cotton cloth: “They colour it black, tan, green, blue, yellow, and red, the 

colours being as vivid or as subdued as the Indians desire. After boiling the 

bark and leaves in a pot without changing the dye, they can produce all the 

distinct colours” (1959, 103). 

Jamaica has various plants which can be used to make 

dyes. According to Rouse (1992, 11), red was a favoured 

colour. Three indigenous species that produce red dyes are 

the annatto (Bixa orellana) or, as the Taínos called it, bija, 

whose seeds/berries produce a reddish-orange dye (Figure 7.6); 

brazilwood or brasiletto wood (Caesalpinia brasiliensis); and red 

mangrove (Rhizophora mangle). Guava (Psidium guajava) is said 

to produce a black pigment. 

Religious Paraphernalia 

Figure 7.6 The 

annatto plant. 

(National Library 

of Jamaica; Pollard 

1983, 16.) 

Select woods were used for the construction of wooden religious furniture 

and paraphernalia (Saunders and Gray 1996). The lignum vitae (Guaiacum 

officinale) or guyacan is referred to as “holy wood”, “wood of life” or “holy Tree” 

(Fernández de Oviedo 1959; Adams 1972). Zemís and duhos were created from 

this wood. A small lignum vitae duho was recovered from the Cambridge Hill 

Burial Cave, St Thomas. Lignum vitae was also used for axe handles (Duerden 

1897). West Indian mahogany (Swietenia mahagoni) or caoba, West Indian 


cedar (Cedrela odorata), santa maria (Calophyllum calaba) and blue mahoe 

(Hibiscus elatus) are examples of woods that were used for creating zemís. 

The foregoing section illustrates the diverse ways in which the Jamaican 

Taínos responded to the natural environment and utilized it to meet their 

needs. The next section discusses the second type of human selective pressure: 

the cultivation of domesticated and wild plants. 

Cultivation of Domesticated and Wild Plants 

According to Colin Renfrew and Paul Bahn, subsistence – the ability to keep 

oneself alive – is the most basic of all necessities (2000, 269). The Jamaican 

Taíno subsistence consisted of agriculture, fishing and gathering (see Scudder, 

this volume). Agriculture was a very important component of the Taíno livelihood. 

It was a means of survival and regulated an organized system of labour. 

Cultivation is simply the deliberate assistance given to plants, such as 

preparing the soil, fertilizing, irrigating, weeding and providing protection 

from predators. Whether grown from seeds or vegetatively, wild plants 

become domesticated when, through cultivation, they have been genetically 

modified to the point of dependence on human activity for their successful 

reproduction and dispersal (Rashford 1991). 

The domestication of plants did not occur overnight but took thousands of 

years. According to Peter Ucko and G.W. Dimbleby, our record of manufactured 

tools goes back over one million years, but evidence of domesticated animals 

and plants starts much later, around the end of the European Ice Age, 

after ca. 10,000 BC (1969, xvii). They go on to say: 

Domestication was a process extending over several thousand years and that it 

[sic] had its own special characteristics in different areas of the ancient world. 

Domestication did not, of course, happen only once but has recurred time and 

time again in different parts of the world and at different times. Domestication 

as a process still continues. (Ucko and Dimbleby 1969, xx) 

Agricultural Practices 

The Slash-and-Burn Technique 

The agricultural practices and techniques applied in Jamaica and the Greater 

Antilles were strongly influenced by the methods used in the Amazon region. 

Marcio Veloz Maggiolo states that rainforest farming and an agricultural system 

based on deforestation (forest-burning and ash-bedded sowing) reached 

the Caribbean around 400 BC. Slash-and-burn agriculture, as this system is 


105

called, requires that a population move to new land every ten to twelve years, 

soon after the soil has been exhausted (Veloz Maggiolo 1997, 34). 

According to Veloz Maggiolo, the Ostionoid were the most important pre- 

Taíno society of the slash-and-burn agricultural period. Originally, they combined 

an attenuated approach to slash-and-burn agriculture with gathering, 

fishing and hunting (ibid., 36). He continues: 

In stark contrast to the vast expanses of rain forest on the mainland, the islands 

were small. So migrants had to shift away from slash-and-burn agriculture with 

its requirements of large tracts of land available for burning and constant mobility. 

Toward the first and second centuries AD, the island societies had adapted to 

the new environment They soon discovered a new technique: mound farming. 

Decomposed garbage and refuse accumulations, they found, were particularly 

fertile planting terrains, as nitrogen levels in these naturally fertilized mounds 

increased productivity. (ibid., 36) 

Conucos 

The Taínos cultivated their root crops, such as cassava (Manihot esculenta), in 

man-made earthen mound fields called conucos, or monticulos in Spanish. 

These conucos are what Veloz Maggiolo refers to as mound farming (1997). 

These mounds were 1 m high and some 3 m in circumference and were 

arranged in regular rows (Rouse 1992). The conuco was said to provide more 

room and fertile soil for the growth of the tuber; it maintained humidity 

longer, and thus the crops were not overly affected by seasonal variations in 

rainfall. The mature tuber could be stored in the ground for longer periods of 

time, and the mound’s structure prevented soil erosion and improved drainage 

(ibid.). According to William Keegan, “the Taino name conuco refers to the 

fields in which their cultigens were planted”. Keegan adds that “not all conucos 

had mounds; some had terraces, others were irrigated, and the majority had 

no significant modifications to the landscape” (personal communication, 

2003). 

Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo in The Natural History of the West Indies 

infers that both techniques were used by the Taínos in specific circumstances, 

such as the cultivation of cassava: 

To propagate this plant, the Indians break a branch of it into pieces about 2 

spans long. Some men make small hills of the earth at regular intervals. . . . In 

each hill they place 5 or 6 or more of the cuttings of the plant. Other Indians 

do not go to the trouble to make hills but simply level the soil and insert these 

cuttings at regular intervals in the earth. Before planting the yuca, the natives 

grub or cut over land and burn the brush just as they do in preparing the land 

for planting corn. ...After a few days the cutting buds for then it takes root. 

(Fernández de Oviedo 1959, 16) 


According to Rouse, the density of Jamaica’s population suggests that its 

inhabitants practised the same advanced form of agriculture (conuco) as the 

Classic Taínos (1992, 18). 

Introduction of Flora 

Indigenous species are plants and animals that occur naturally in a particular 

country but may also be found elsewhere in the world. An endemic species is 

any plant or animal that is found only in a particular area (usually a country). 

For a small island, Jamaica has a high level of plant endemism; it been rated 

fifth among the world’s islands in terms of plant endemism (NRCA/NEPA/ 

MLE 2001, 9). 

Veloz Maggiolo refers to the Taínos’ use of the slash-and-burn technique. 

Since their ancestors brought their agricultural practices with them to the 

Caribbean, it is not far-fetched to assume that they, and the subsequent cultures, 

introduced domesticated flora into the islands. It is generally assumed 

that several species of plants which were of importance to the Taínos’ ancestors 

were carried to the islands. 

According to Rashford, the flora that the Taínos introduced into Jamaica 

was generally domesticated plants. This new flora was introduced by the 

Taínos to maintain their traditional lifestyles. The Taínos’ ancestors are said to 

have originated in the Amazon basin of South America (Keegan 1992), where 

many species, such as the cassava or manioc (Manihot esculenta), were domesticated. 

South America was the probable centre of origin for the following 

cultivated plants: amaranth (Amaranthus spp.), peanut (Arachis hypogaea), 

common bean (Phaseolus spp.), manioc (Manihot esculenta), potato (Ipomoea 

batatas), cotton (Gossypium spp.), squash (Cucurbita maxima), bottle gourd 

(Lagenaria siceraria) and tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) (Scarre 1999, 78). 

The following is a list of flora introduced to Jamaica – these plants were 

neither endemic nor indigenous plants. Rashford states that these crops represent 

herbaceous plants, which require systematic cultivation (1991, 18). 

1. Cassava (Manihot esculenta) 

2. Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) 

3. Yampi (Colocasia spp.) 

4. Arrowroot (Maranta arundinacea) 

5. Coco/Indian kale (Xanthosoma sagittifolium) 

6. Maize (Zea mays) 

7. Pineapple (Ananas comosus) 

8. Peanuts (Arachis hypogaea) 

9. Squashes (Cucurbita maxima) 


107

10. Beans (Phaseolus spp.) 

11. Tobacco (Nicotiana rustica) 

According to ethnographic sources, the Taínos cultivated cassava, sweet 

potato, yampi, arrowroot, coco, maize, pineapple, peanuts, squash, beans and 

tobacco in their conucos or gardens. Fernández de Oviedo describes their cultivation 

of maize: 

In Hispaniola both the Indians and Spaniards have two kinds of bread, for the 

Christians eat the same bread as the Indians. One sort is made of maiz (maize), 

which is a grain, and the other is cassava, which is a root of the manioc. Corn 

is planted and harvested in the following manner....The Indians first cut down 

the cane and trees where they wish to plant it. After the trees have been felled 

and the field grubbed, the land is burned and the ashes left as a dressing for 

the soil. An Indian takes in his hand a stick (coa) as tall as he is, and plunges the 

point into the earth, then he pulls it out, and in the hole he has made places 

with his other hand about seven or eight grains of corn. Then he takes another 

step forward and repeats the process. (1959, 13–14) 

Fernández de Oviedo also states that when the Indians and Christians planted 

pineapples, they put them in regular rows like vine stalks in a vineyard 

(1959, 99). Cultivation of domesticated crops was clearly important to Taíno 

subsistence. 

Evidence of Cultivation: The Cassava 

Alexander (1969), in an article discussing evidence of plant domestication, 

states that the evidence can be divided into cultural and non-cultural. Direct 

cultural evidence includes precise literary references, drawings, paintings and 

carvings, specialized tools and cultivation systems. Indirect cultural evidence 

includes the actual remains of plant cultigens preserved by carbonization, 

matrix impressions, silica skeletons, and the bones, teeth, horns or antlers of 

animals (ibid.). 

In determining evidence of the domestication and cultivation of species, 

Alexander suggests that the crop be assessed in terms of the following factors: 

clearing of the land; preparation of the land; planting or sowing; harvesting; 

processing and storing; and cooking and preparations for eating. 

The Taínos’ prized crop was yuca, the cassava or manioc (henceforth 

referred to as cassava). Cassava was not indigenous to Jamaica. Angulo Váldes 

states that roots and tubers dominated rainforest farming on the mainland, 

where the main staple was cassava, which began to be used for bread around 

2000 BC (Veloz Maggiolo 1997). There are two species of cassava – sweet and 

bitter. The latter is poisonous and, according to Fernández de Oviedo (1959, 


17), grows abundantly on the islands of San Juan (Puerto Rico), Cuba, 

Jamaica and Hispaniola. 

The Taínos are believed to have used stone tools to fell trees for the clearing 

of land (Lovén 1935; Veloz Maggiolo 1997). The stone tool most commonly 

recovered in Jamaica is the celt (stone axe blade). Many of the celt 

specimens found are petal-shaped, hence the term petaloid celts (Porter 1990, 

54). The celts were hafted into wooden handles. Most of the celts are almost 

symmetrical and highly polished (ibid.). Celts have been recovered from sites 

across the island including Norbrook, St Andrew; Rozelle, St Thomas; 

Liberty Hill, St Ann; California, St James; Salt River, Clarendon; and Port 

Henderson, St Catherine. 

Celts served as knife, hammer and axe. As a general rule, the older, almost 

worn-out ones are triangular in shape, while others are double-ended, one end 

being a sharp cutting edge and the other a pointed butt. They can measure up 

to 25 cm in length (ibid.).The abundance of these celts and other stone implements 

suggests that they were used to clear land, carve canoes and possibly to 

cut manioc (Veloz Maggiolo 1997). Celts were used, along with fire, to fell 

selected trees and hack out the interior. This technique was used in the construction 

of dugout canoes, which, according to Ferdinand, were “hollowed like 

a tray” (Walker 1992, 58). Despite their distribution across the island, celts do 

not necessarily indicate agricultural activities, as they also served other functions; 

some highly polished ones were used in religious ceremonies. 

Admittedly, it is difficult to prove archaeologically the details of cultivation, 

forcing reliance on ethnographic sources. A wooden zemí of Baibrama was 

found in Jamaica in 1757. Baibrama is said to have helped cassava to grow 

(Rouse 1992, 117); thus the presence of the zemí suggests the cultivation of 

cassava. Baibrama is generally depicted in a standing or squatting position 

with an erect penis, as if urinating to increase the growth of cassava. Baibrama 

is said to be one of the many alternative names for the Taíno supreme deity, 

Yocahu Bagua Maorocoti – the giver of the cassava and master of the sea. 

Yucahu is said to be the spirit of the cassava, who helped in the growing of 

cassava and cured people who were poisoned by the juice of the cassava. 

Three-pointed zemís, which represent Yocahu, are said to have mimicked the 

triad shape of the cassava tuber. 

Cassava was essential to the Taínos, not just as a food staple but also in religious 

terms. According to Sven Lovén (1935, 563): 

Yocahu is identifiable as a Yuca god, “who gave and increased the natural food 

plants of the Antilleans”. Fewkes agrees with this theory. It is probable that the 

compound part yoca is the same as yuca. Possibly the Taíno originally received 

yuca from Yocahu. But after they had received it, it grows through zemí 

co-operation. 


109

After the cassava was harvested, it was processed and prepared for consumption. 

It is from this phase that additional evidence exists of the presence 

of the cassava. After the roots were grated, the poisonous juices were extracted 

by way of cibucanes, large woven baskets with a fastening on top and a ring at 

the bottom through which a stick would be inserted and turned to twist the 

basket, thus squeezing and straining the grated cassava inside (Veloz 

Maggiolo 1997, 39). 

The resulting cassava flour was baked on a burén, a circular clay griddle, to 

make casabe – cassava bread. According to Fernández de Oviedo, this bread 

could be kept for a year or more (1959, 17). The poisonous juice was boiled 

to make cassareep, a preservative used in stews. Taíno buréns have been found 

island-wide, from Tower Hill, St Andrew, at Bengal, St Ann, Great Pedro 

Bay, St Elizabeth and Taylor’s Hut Cave #2, Clarendon. The burén is believed 

to have been used solely for cooking cassava bread or cakes. According to 

James W. Lee: 

Jamaican Arawak buréns were essentially flat, more or less circular platters made 

of baked clay and were propped on stones above wood fires to cook cassava 

bread. The most typical style has a raised rim, bevelled outer edge, is more often 

than not poorly fired and has no decoration. The average thickness at the rim 

is 2.6 cm (about one inch), in the interior about 2.0 cm (0.78 inch) and in an 

annular zone a few centimetres from the rim 1.8 cm (0.71 inch); based on 

measurements of some 200 specimens of rim sherds in the author’s collection. 

(Lee 1980a, 1–2) 

No village site in Jamaica that has been carefully examined is without burén 

sherds, a fact that attests to the universal use of cassava as a dietary staple 

(ibid.). 

In the text Jamaica under the Spaniards (1919), Frank Cundall and Joseph 

Pietersz refer to Jamaica as a food-producing country and offer evidence of 

the presence and production of cassava bread on the island: 

As early as that year (1512) it became evident that Jamaica, though possessing 

no gold of importance, would prove of value as a food producing country, and 

arrangements were made to send foodstuffs to the mainland. Two years later, 

Velasquez, the Governor of Cuba, sent a caravel to Jamaica for cassava bread as, 

owing to drought the natives in Trinidad (in Cuba) were suffering from famine. 

(Cundall and Pietersz 1919, 2) 

In contemporary Jamaica, farmers use a mound-farming technique similar 

to the Taínan conuco. So-called cassava hills, generally 1 m wide and 50 cm 

high, are placed at regular intervals (Selvenious Walters, personal communication, 

2002). Modern Jamaicans produce a cassava bread called bammy, 

which is also derived from the Taíno tradition. 


Incidental Dispersal 

The plant component of the Taíno diet included wild fruits and vegetables, 

such as sweetsop (Annona muricata), macca fat (Acrocomia spinosa) and papaya 

(Carica papaya). So far we have focused on deliberate means of transforming 

the natural vegetation; however, in some cases the Taínos accidentally encouraged 

the growth of flora not common to the specific terrain. Wild plants are 

incidentally dispersed in the settlement environment by humans and other 

animals and by wind, water and abiotic means. Human incidental dispersal 

results from three basic processes: harvesting, adhesion, and mediation 

(Rashford 1991, 18). 

There are four ways in which incidental dispersal by harvesting can occur: 

rejection, loss, discard and defecation (ibid., 18–19). Rejection refers to the 

spreading of seeds as a result of humans spitting them out. The sweetsop 

(Annona squamosa) and soursop (Annona sapota) could have been spread this 

way. Incidental dispersal by loss occurs when collected fruits are dropped while 

being taken from one place to another. Discard is the intentional throwing 

away of seeds. Rashford suggests that the papaya and mammee (Mammea 

americana) were spread via discarded seeds. In the fourth method of incidental 

dispersal, the seeds are ingested with the rest of the fruit and later dispersed 

through defecation. Guava (Psidium guajava) may have been dispersed this 

way. 

Rashford (ibid.) points out the complexity of incidental dispersal, as there 

are some plants – for instance, guava – which could have been spread by any 

or all of the methods. In any case, we know that incidental dispersal did take 

place: for example, in Jamaica there exists an endemic mountain guava 

(Psidium montanum) which is generally found in the Lower Montane Mist 

Forest between 375 m and 1,200 m above sea level (Adams 1972). The location 

of mountain guava at Taíno sites at lower elevations suggests human incidental 

dispersal. 

The other methods of incidental dispersal are adhesion and mediation. 

Adhesion occurs when plants or seeds become attached to people, their equipment 

or their animals and are thus spread in the human environment. 

Mediation occurs as a result of human settlement, when a built environment, 

together with the activities associated with it, affects animals and other natural 

agents that in turn have an impact on plant dispersal (Rashford 1991, 19). 

Generally, it is difficult to prove human incidental dispersal on an archaeological 

site. Knowledge of the processes of incidental dispersal, however, can 

provide clues to recognizing a Taíno site. For instance, at the Meillacan site 

at Paradise Park, Westmoreland, there is a very large silk cotton tree (Ceiba 

pentandra), 26 m tall. In Jamaica, the silk cotton tree is naturally found at ele- 


111

vations above 300 m (Adams 1972); yet the Paradise Park site was a coastal 

settlement. 

The majority of known Taíno sites are located in the interior valleys and 

coastal plains (Atkinson 2002), which were the first places for human 

settlement. Many former Taíno sites were settled upon by the Spanish and 

subsequently by the British, and are now in built-up areas, as illustrated by 

Seville, St Ann, and Spanish Town, St Catherine. It is only in remote areas 

away from human disturbance that one could begin to search for evidence of 

incidental dispersal. 

Conclusion 

Traditionally, faunal analysis has predominated in archaeological investigation, 

and floral analysis has been sidelined. However, the development of the 

discipline of palaeoethnobotany is bringing about a change in attitude towards 

the importance of floral evidence. In Jamaica, a great deal of useful information 

can be obtained through the analysis of macro- and microbotanical 

remains. It has become obvious that we have barely scratched the surface of 

the evidence regarding the importance of flora to the Taíno, as plants had 

medicinal, subsistence and religious roles as well as food value. There is also 

the issue of the Taínos’ impact on the natural environment, which was briefly 

discussed in this chapter. The Taínos’ role in the introduction of new flora 

has been considered minimal in comparison with that of the Europeans; however, 

it is now recognized that the presence of cassava, maize and other nonindigenous 

plants indicate that they did contribute, directly or indirectly, to 

the present vegetation of Jamaica. 

Figure 7.7 Members of the Paradise Park 2001 excavations measuring the Ceiba tree at 

the Meillacan site. From left: Bill Rogers, Dan Keegan, Bill Keegan, Ralph Pax, Mary 

Lou Pax, Bob Gezon, Nadia Manning and Lesley-Gail Atkinson. (Courtesy of William 

F. Keegan.) 


8 

Early Arawak Subsistence 

Strategies: The Rodney’s 

House Site of Jamaica 

S YLVIA 

S CUDDER 

ONE OF THE clearest links to past environments is the faunal 

material excavated from archaeological sites. Identification and analysis of 

vertebrate and invertebrate species sought as food by aboriginal peoples shed 

light on animal community structure, population dynamics, zoogeography, 

habitat use, food procurement techniques and food preferences. A careful 

scrutiny of faunal and botanical materials, taking into account losses due to 

taphonomy and other factors of deposition, sampling error and the bias of 

human choice, can eliminate subjective interpretations and provide a more 

complete picture of past settlement subsistence activity. 

The Rodney’s House site is designated S-5 and is located in the parish of 

St Catherine, Jamaica, in the limestone hills behind Port Henderson, at an 

elevation of 133 m above sea level. Four 1.5-m 2 units were excavated during 

two field seasons; the fauna material from those squares was analysed at the 

Environmental Archaeology Laboratory, Florida Museum of Natural History 

(FMNH). This report presents the results of that analysis, and then compares 

the Rodney’s House fauna with analyses of faunal remains recovered at 

the sites Bellevue, St Andrew, and White Marl, St Catherine, also on 

Jamaica’s south coast. 

The Site and Its Environment 

St Catherine is situated on the southeast coast of Jamaica at 17E 56' N latitude 

and 76E 53' W longitude. The southeastern portion of the parish, including 

Originally published in Archaeology Jamaica, new ser., 6 (1992): 28–43. 

113

the Hellshire Hills and Great Salt Pond area southwest of Kingston, is dry 

thorn scrub, receiving the least amount of rainfall of any area in Jamaica, 

approximately 508 mm per year (Collins and Longman 1978). Soils in the 

immediate vicinity of S-5 are predominantly shallow, somewhat excessively 

drained loams and clays formed on limestone, with numerous limestone outcroppings 

(Ministry of Agriculture 1987). South, towards Great Salt Pond, 

as the hill slope flattens to less than 1 per cent, the soils become very poorly 

drained, mottled, with weakly defined horizonation and high salt content. 

Within a few kilometres to the west a large area of deep alluvial soils is found. 

Within approximately 5 km of S-5 and encompassing the entire broad south 

coast of St Catherine parish, including the Hellshire Hills, is another area of 

shallow cambisols similar to those at the site (ibid.). Vegetation supported by 

these cambisols takes the form of dry limestone scrub forest (thorn woodland, 

according to the Holdridge system) and includes cactus, trees such as Bursera, 

Acacia, Haematoxylon and Leucanea, and a number of xerophytic climbing 

plants and epiphytes (Asprey and Robbins 1953). The coastal fringe of this 

dry forest is dominated by sclerophyllous dry limestone shrubs, cacti, halophytes 

and salt-tolerant trees such as Chrysobalanus and Hippomane. Sheltered 

bays may support a mangrove community. Seifriz (1943) aptly described this 

region: “The heat is intensive, the light blinding, every plant armed, no water, 

no shade, and no trail leading anywhere, as awe-inspiring, as fearful, as superb 

a picture of the eternal persistence of life under the most adverse conditions 

that nature can produce.” 

The site itself occupies about one-half a hectare of gently sloping land on 

the limestone hill behind Port Henderson. It is within 1 km of the coast at 

Green Bay and within 1.5 km of the mangrove swamps of Dawkins Pond 

and Great Salt Pond (Medhurst 1980). Six middens were identified, along 

with a flat area of cultivable land to the west. There is at present no permanent 

source of fresh water on the site. Medhurst and Clarke (1976a), in their report 

on the Bellevue site in the Manning Hills area of St Andrew Parish (approximately 

18 km from S-5), mentions the presence of a recently dried-up pond 

and several springs within a 2-km radius of the site. He speculates that a possible 

cause of abandonment of S-5, with its ready access to food sources, may 

be that its water source dried up. 

Excavation 

Between February and July 1978, J.C. Wilman, in association with Colin 

Medhurst, excavated two 1.5-m 2 units ( J1 and K2) in the centre of an apparent 

midden (Midden 2). Seven 20 cm levels were removed, the last reaching 

bedrock at 1.4 m. All material was screened (screen size was not indicated) 


and bagged by level. In April of 1979, Wilman and Medhurst excavated an 

additional unit of the same size at Midden 2 (K3), and another unit at 

Midden 3 (S17) using the same 20 cm vertical levels. Six levels resulted at unit 

K3 and two at S17 before sterile sand was reached. Mollusc remains were not 

saved from K3, but a sample from S17 was retained. 

Methods 

Faunal remains were analysed using standard zooarchaeological technique: 

identifications were made to the lowest possible taxon by comparison with 

known specimens in zooarchaeology collections, FMNH. Minimum numbers 

of individuals (MNI) were calculated by matching paired elements, taking size 

into consideration (Wing and Brown 1979, 123–26). Total number of fragments 

identified per taxon and weight of fragments per taxon were also determined. 

Reference was made to molluscs identified and presented in a previous 

report on Rodney’s House by John Wilman (1978). Material from units J1 

and K2 was combined for the analysis since each collection included complete 

samples of vertebrate, crab and molluscan material. Square K3, without molluscs, 

was treated separately, as was square S17 (representative mollusc sample 

taken but not defined). Of the three categories of data produced (fragment 

count, MNI and fragment weight) only fragment count was applied to the 

molluscan sample from J1 and K2 combined material. This is because, 

although the bivalves were counted as two valves per individual, it was not 

stated whether the valves were paired (left to right), so an accurate assessment 

of MNI could not be made. Also, no weights were taken on the molluscs. 

Molluscs from unit S17 were not included in the analysis since the 

manner in which they were sampled was not outlined. MNI of vertebrates and 

crabs were determined by level, in keeping with the method used for tabulation 

of numbers of molluscs. Regarding quantification of all molluscan material, 

both the sample taken in the field and incidentals found with the 

vertebrate material were retained in the raw data for each square but not 

included in the comparative analyses. 

The faunal assemblage will be presented in two ways: 

1. Vertebrate and crab material only, with all squares combined to give a 

picture of the site through time, and 

2. Squares J1 and K2 combined, relating vertebrate, crab and mollusc components. 

E ARLY A RAWAK S UBSISTENCE S TRATEGIES:THE R ODNEY’ S H OUSE S ITE OF J AMAICA 

115

Results 

Vertebrate and Crab Remains: All Units Combined 

A total of 6,728 bone and crab fragments were identified to at least a family 

level, resulting in an MNI of 747. Mammal taxa were of five families, including 

five genera and four species. Birds were represented by four families, three 

genera and two species. Reptiles (no amphibians were found) yielded three 

families, three genera and three species; Chondrichthyes (sharks and rays) two 

families, two genera and two species; Osteichthyes, twenty-three families, 

twenty-five genera and sixteen species; and crabs and lobsters six families, 

seven genera, and one species. Table 8.1 summarizes the most abundant vertebrate 

and crab taxa in the assemblage (complete data and details of analysis 

can be obtained from the author). Table 8.3 (see appendix) presents a complete 

listing of all vertebrate and invertebrate taxa. 

Mammals comprised 13.7 per cent of the total sample (considering MNI) 

and were dominated by Geocapromys brownii, the Jamaican hutia or coney, 

which constituted 87.2 per cent of mammalian species and 12.0 per cent of 

the total vertebrate/crab assemblage (see Table 8.1). One other rodent was 

found: Oryzomys antillarum, the Jamaican rice rat (7.4 per cent of the mammals 

and 1.0 per cent of the total). 

Cyclura collei, the land iguana, was the most abundant reptile in the sample, 

with eleven individuals. The green sea turtle, Chelonia mydas and the sea turtle 

family Cheloniidae combined to yield four individuals. Crocodylus acutus, 

the saltwater crocodile, was represented by one individual. 

Bony fish (with a few Chondrichthyes represented) constitute 53.4 per 

cent of the total sample (MNI = 365). The most abundant taxa are representatives 

of families that utilize both reef and open-bottom areas in shallow 

nearshore environments. The family Gerreidae, mojarras, and in particular the 

genus Diapterus, contributed 69 MNI of the fish sample and 10.1 per cent of 

the total. Lutjanidae, snappers, totalled 38 MNI. In decreasing order of abundance, 

other important taxa of fish included Sparidae, porgies, MNI 30; 

Haemulidae, grunts, MNI 29; Serranidae, groupers, MNI 27; Centropomidae, 

snook, MNI 25; Balistidae, triggerfish, MNI 21; and Carangidae, jacks, 

MNI 19. Carcharhinid sharks, requiem sharks, yielded eight individuals. 

The contribution of crabs to the diet was second only to fish. The 172 individuals 

recorded constituted 25.1 per cent of the total sample. The large land 

crab, Cardisoma, was the most abundant genus recovered, yielding 98 individuals. 

The aquatic blue crab Callinectes was second in abundance (40 MNI). 

Gecarcinus, another large terrestrial crab, was represented by 17 individuals, 

and an unidentified member of the family Diogenidae the hermit crabs, con- 


Table 8.1 Significant Vertebrate and Crab Remains from the Rodney’s House Site 

Taxon Common MNI Per cent Per cent 

Name of Class of Total 

Mammals 13.7 

Geocapromys brownii Hutia or coney 28 87.2 12.0 

Oryzomys antillarum Jamaican rice rat 1 7.4 1.0 

Reptiles 6.6 

Cyclura collei Land iguana 11 68.8 3.7 

Chelonia mydas Green sea turtle 4 25.0 1.6 

Crocodylus acutus Saltwater crocodile 1 6.2 0.8 

Osteichthyes 53.4 

Gerreidae Mojarras 69 18.9 10.1 

Lutjanidae Snappers 38 10.4 5.6 

Sparidae Porgies 30 8.0 4.4 

Haemulidae Grunts 29 7.9 4.2 

Serranidae Groupers 27 7.4 3.9 

Centropomidae Snooks 25 6.8 3.7 

Balistidae Triggerfish 21 5.8 3.2 

Carangidae Jacks 19 5.2 2.8 

Chondrichthyes 

Carcharchinidae Requiem sharks 8 2.2 1.2 

Crabs 25.1 

Cardisoma Land crabs 98 57.0 14.3 

Diogenidae Hermit crabs 18 7.6 1.9 

tributed 18 individuals. Due to a lack of comparative crab material in the 

museum collections, the identification of the hermit crab remains incomplete. 

A large member of the family Diogenidae is the best possibility, the largest 

species, Petrochirus diogenes, being a denizen of mud- or sand-bottomed areas 

(Williams 1984). Coenobita clypeatus, in the family Coenobitidae, is another 

possibility. It is the largest terrestrial hermit crab in the area. 

When presentation of MNI as total site percentage is broken down level by 

level, some interesting shifts in faunal exploitation emerge. Reptiles maintain 

a low and fairly stable percentage through time, from a high of 5.9 per cent 

in level 4 to a low of 2.7 per cent in level 3. Mammals start at 9.5 per cent in 

level 7, peak at 20.6 per cent in level 4, return to a low of 8.1 per cent in level 

3, then increase slowly towards the surface levels. Of much greater interest is 


117

the interplay between fish and crabs. Both represent approximately 36 per 

cent of the level 7 sample. From this point they diverge dramatically, fish 

increasing to a maximum of 64.9 per cent in level 2 and crabs decreasing to a 

low of 10.4 per cent, also in level 2. There is a reversal and then recovery of 

both of these trends, between levels 4 and 5 for fish and between levels 3 and 

4 for crabs. When mollusc fragment count is superimposed on the vertebrate 

MNI figures, it closely tracks the fish values, complete with reversal and 

recovery in levels 4 and 5. 

Vertebrate and Complete Invertebrate Sample: 

Units J1 and K2 

In the 1976 report on the Bellevue site, Medhurst and Clarke state: “In common 

with all Jamaican Arawak sites, vast quantities of molluscs were in the 

midden material” (1976a, 4). The mollusc sample taken from S-5 during the 

first field season represented an average of 43.6 per cent of the total fragment 

count in each level of squares J1 and K2 combined. As stated in the introduction, 

count was used instead of MNI in this comparison due to the question 

of valve pairing (or not) of molluscs in the original quantifications. Count and 

MNI will, of course be identical in the case of whole gastropods; the problem 

arises with the possibility of under-representation of bivalves. 

Of a total of 9,418 identified vertebrate and invertebrate fragments, vertebrates 

contributed 4,063, crabs 1,245, and molluscs 4,110 fragments, or 43.6 

per cent. Of these molluscs, 92 per cent were marine taxa and 8.4 per cent 

were terrestrial. The molluscan sample was dominated by two shallow-water 

bivalves: Arca spp., and Donax denticulata. Arca contributed 1,420 fragments 

and Donax totalled 1,149. One other nearshore bivalve contributed significantly: 

Ostrea frons, the leaf or coon oyster. 

Minor contributors to the molluscan sample were Chama spp., the jewelbox 

shell, the family Neritidae, Melongena spp., the crown conchs, and 

Cittarium pica, the West Indian top shell. The only terrestrial molluscs occurring 

in abundance were Pleurodonte spp., and Dentellaria peracutissima. Both 

of these genera are found in leaf litter on the forest floor. 

Discussion 

Animal Habits and Habitats 

In order to gain an understanding of the strategies and technologies needed 

to procure animals for food, one must have knowledge of their natural his- 


tory and habitat preferences. Following are summaries of such information 

pertinent to the most significant species identified in the Rodney’s House faunal 

material. 

Geocapromys is a large (up to 2 kg) herbivorous rodent, once abundant in 

Jamaica and now nearly extinct. It is nocturnal and social, preferring areas that 

include exposed limestone outcrops, the crevices of which are used as refuges. 

Conies may breed throughout the year, usually producing one young per litter. 

They feed on leaves, bark and twigs of small shrubs, sometimes climbing 

up into the plants to reach forage (Walker 1975). Oryzomys antillarum, the 

Jamaican rice rat, was a small diurnal seedeater, also eating grass, fruit and 

invertebrates. It has not been seen in Jamaica since 1877, just five years after 

the mongoose was introduced to the island to help control the rat population 

in sugar-cane fields (Hall 1981). 

The land iguana, or guana, is a large (approximately 4 to 5 kg) herbivorous 

lizard. It is diurnal, like the coney preferring limestone karst areas for protection 

among the natural crevices and tree roots. One clutch of eggs is laid per 

year, and data on the Turks and Caicos iguana (data not available on the 

Jamaican species) suggest that they are very long-lived, not reaching sexual 

maturity until the seventh year (Iverson 1979). The Jamaican iguana has been 

considered extinct on the island since the early 1940s, although a small population 

has maintained itself in the Hellshire Hills on the south coast (Carey 

1975). 

The green sea turtle, Chelonia mydas, is most easily caught as the females 

lay eggs on sandy beaches. Once nest digging commences, the females are 

completely vulnerable, being single-mindedly focused on the task at hand. 

Nest excavation and egg laying may take most of the night, providing ample 

opportunity for predation by hunters. The nesting season for the West Indies, 

according to Carr (1952), is May through October. Crocodylus acutus, the saltwater 

crocodile, occurs in mangrove swamps and marshes. It has been documented 

in archaeological sites on the south coast only (Wing 1972) and may 

never have occurred on the north coast. 

Two of the most common families of bony fish, Sparidae and Gerreidae, 

are bottom-dwelling invertebrate feeders, preferring shallow, quiet waters with 

or without reefs. Diapterus may be found over muddy bottoms in brackishwater 

areas (Randall 1968). Haemulidae, the grunt family, forms dense aggregations 

on small patch reefs during the day, whereas at night individuals 

disperse to feed over sand and grass flats (Randall 1968). Some species of 

Haemulon exploit mud bottoms in brackish areas. 

The fish genus most closely tied to the reef environment is Balistes, the 

triggerfish. The arrangement of interlocking dorsal spines on this fish is 

specifically adapted to offer protection from predators: when threatened, the 


119


fish swims into reef crevices, and its spines enable it to wedge itself in. 

Triggerfish occasionally venture out into clear sand areas. Centropomus, the 

snook, is most often encountered in freshwater or brackish areas of river 

mouths, or in mangrove swamps or salt marshes (Hoese and Moore 1977). 

They are occasionally found on inshore reefs near mangrove areas. 

Lutjanidae (snappers) and Carangidae (jacks) are carnivorous predators. 

Snappers are usually nocturnal, feeding primarily over offshore reefs and 

banks (Randall 1968). The genus Lutjanus prefers the shallowest water of the 

group, and L. griseus actually spends most of its time inshore. Unfortunately, 

the faunal material was not well enough preserved to allow identification to 

the species level, so this zoogeographic information could not be accessed. 

Carangids are schooling predators that may use the reef as a foraging area but 

do not reside there. Caranx hippos are sometimes scavengers in areas of human 

use (Hoese and Moore 1977). 

Cardisoma and Gecarcinus of the family Gecarcinidae are large terrestrial 

scavengers sometimes called soldier crabs. Cardisoma may reach maximum 

carapace length (posterior to anterior margins, at midline) of 90 mm, and 

Gecarcinus attains a maximum of 70 mm. Cardisoma inhabits the lower floodplains 

of rivers and other low-lying areas. Individuals construct burrows that 

penetrate the water table, and under threat, will plunge beneath the water to 

avoid danger. During daylight hours they rarely wander more than a metre 

from their burrows, though at night they roam considerable distances (Chace 

and Hobbs 1969). Gecarcinus occurs at higher elevations than Cardisoma, 

though the young of both species sympatrically inhabit the talus slopes at the 

bases of cliffs. Adults prefer cliffs and hills inland from the coastal lowlands. 

They emerge from their shallow burrows at night, especially after rain. 

Callinectes, the blue crab, is found in freshwater stream mouths, estuaries and 

shallow ocean settings. It is a diurnal scavenger that tolerates great extremes 

of salinity (ibid.). Some species are more tolerant than others of muddy or polluted 

conditions. 

Both Arca and Ostrea can be found attached to hard substrates or mangrove 

roots in quiet-water areas (Emerson and Jacobson 1976). Donax, the coquina 

clam, inhabits wave-wash areas of sandy beaches, actively burrowing and 

being carried about the midtide line by wave action. They can be easily gathered 

in great quantities at certain localities. Chama may be found attached by 

the left valve to hard substrates below the tideline in warm, shallow waters. 

The right valve is often thrown onto shore during storm tides (Emerson and 

Jacobson 1976). Cittarium and the nerites cling to wave-washed rocks and 

may be found in dense groups. Melongena is an active predator and scavenger, 

usually frequenting sandy, shallow areas.

Changing Subsistence Strategies 

The overall faunal assemblage depicts a localized exploitation of typical 

West Indian dry-coastal and shallow-water animal communities. S-5 is 

within a short distance of areas inhabited by the primary terrestrial and 

aquatic target species identified in the analysis. Limestone karst areas 

favoured by Geocapromys and Cyclura dominate the south-coast landscape. 

Marine edge, shallow bay and brackish water areas, inshore reefs and sandbottomed 

shallow seas are all easily available and heavily exploited. The 

absence of the distant montane and pelagic species indicates a restricted 

catchment area, suggesting a highly supportive local environment and relative 

self-sufficiency. 

The shift toward greater use of fish and marine molluscs and the concomitant 

decrease in abundance of crabs in later levels reveal an increased 

reliance on marine organisms over terrestrial ones. An interesting exception 

is Callinectes, the blue crab, whose representation in the sample decreases in 

concert with the terrestrial Cardisoma and Gecarcinus. Since these crabs are 

ubiquitous in stream mouths, estuaries and shallow embayments, their capture 

may be viewed as a simple extension of terrestrial gathering, explaining their 

disappearance along with that of the soldier crabs. 

The dramatic shift in emphasis at Rodney’s House from land to marine 

food species may indicate an over-exploitation of terrestrial habitats of low 

intrinsic productivity. Modern crab populations can be easily over-harvested 

and are jealously guarded in the Cayman Islands (R. Franz, Florida Museum 

of Natural History, personal communication). However, a brief examination 

of the occurrence of unfused long-bone epiphyses in the Geocapromys sample 

did not indicate a shift in age classes captured. In support of this, the fish 

vertebrate did not show a decrease in size through time, which would have 

suggested over-harvesting of the resource base. 

Another explanation of the faunal shift may be cultural. A review of the 

ceramic chronology outlined by Wilman (1978) reveals that filleted rims on 

clay vessels begin appearing at the site in level 3, indicating a change in complexion 

of the human population and suggesting the possibility of disruption 

or alteration of subsistence activity. The seeming return to an earlier (or more 

terrestrial) pattern of faunal use may point to an influx of people unfamiliar 

with the local marine resources, or to a more general use of all habitats as a 

result of increased human population pressure. A third explanation may be 

that terrestrial animal population levels recovered in response to decreased 

hunting pressure as marine environments were increasingly utilized, and subsequently 

were re-exploited. 


121

Effects of Geography and Location: 

A Comparison of Sites 

Three important south-coast Jamaican sites – Rodney’s House, White Marl 

and Bellevue – are located within an approximate 15-km radius of modernday 

Kingston. Their positions along a continuum from coastal (Rodney’s 

House) to inland (Bellevue) localities allow an interesting comparison of subsistence 

strategies and habitat exploitation within similar life zones. 

The Bellevue site (K-13) in St Andrew, situated at an elevation of 412 m, 

lies approximately 10 km north of the coast at Kingston Harbour and 15 km 

north of Rodney’s House. White Marl, in St Catherine, is approximately 5.5 

km inland from Kingston Harbour to the west. Although the maximum elevation 

of White Marl is approximately 150 m, the greatest concentration of 

midden material is at 60 to 90 m. The Rio Cobre flows near the base of the 

hill, although its course was shifted to the west by the storm of 1722 

(Silverberg, Vanderwal and Wing 1972). Extensive areas of fertile soil are 

found within the immediate vicinity of the site and suggest an excellent area 

for cassava production and other forms of gardening. 

All three sites yielded griddle fragments and large numbers of staghorn 

coral (Acropora prolifera) fragments, indicating cassava utilization. According 

to Wilman (1978), the coral fragments were probably fitted into wooden 

frames that were used as scrapers to prepare the cassava. The proximity to all 

three sites of level, arable land suggests the importance of horticulture to these 

prehistoric people, but the absence of plant material in the recovered biological 

samples makes its contribution an unknown quantity as yet. 

Silverberg et al. state in their 1972 report on the White Marl site that the 

most reliable ceramic chronological indicator in the Jamaican Meillacan 

Ostionoid subseries (Rouse 1986) is the replacement of plain rims by filleted 

rims. In that case, Rodney’s House seems to pre-date both White Marl and 

Bellevue. Both Vanderwal at White Marl and Medhurst at Bellevue found filleted 

rims in even the earliest levels of those sites, whereas Rodney’s House 

began yielding filleted rims only in level 3. Occupation of White Marl and 

Bellevue has been indicated by carbon dating to span a period from AD 900 to 

the beginning of the historical period or just before. 

Fauna from the Bellevue site reflects a heavy dependence (89 per cent) on 

land species (Table 8.2). Geocapromys, Oryzomys, Cyclura and Canis familiaris 

(the domestic dog), are the most abundant taxa in the faunal assemblage. A 

preponderance of the remaining species are inshore mammals (Trichechus 

manatus, manatee), Crocodylus and fishes such as Centropomus (snook), 

Carangidae (jack), Sparidae (porgy) and Aetobatis narinari, spotted eagle ray. 

In addition, members of the families Serranidae (grouper), Lutjanidae (snap- 


Table 8.2 Faunal Comparisons: Per cent of Site Total MNI 

Rodney’s House White Marl Bellevue 

Terrestrial 35 62 89 

Inshore 26 25 8 

Banks and reefs 26 10 2 

Other: pelagic, beach 13 3 1 

per) and Scombridae (tuna) – all active predators – are present in small numbers. 

The composition of this assemblage indicates a highly localized, mainly 

terrestrial subsistence strategy. Further, the virtually identical percentages of 

terrestrial species in both levels 3 and 2 (88 and 89 per cent, respectively) indicate 

a stable environment with no overt signs of over-exploitation or shift in 

faunal preference. 

Wing’s 1972 report on the White Marl site indicates that a total of 62 per 

cent of the MNI in the faunal sample analysed is composed of terrestrial 

species, with Geocapromys again dominating the sample. Cyclura, Oryzomys 

and a small number of Canis familiaris round out the land animals. Marine 

species make up the remaining 38 per cent of the MNI at White Marl. 

Twenty-two per cent of these species are inshore, estuarine taxa, 11 per cent 

are from banks and reefs and 3 per cent are from beach areas. The proportionate 

representation of these species accurately reflects the fact that the nearest 

water to White Marl is the large, shallow estuary of Kingston Harbour. The 

stability of the percentages through the levels of the site again indicates 

exploitation at or below carrying capacity of the environment. The inland 

location of the White Marl site explains the greater reliance of its inhabitants 

on terrestrial species than those at Rodney’s House. 

Summary and Conclusions 

Analysis of the faunal material from the Rodney’s House site, S-5, on the 

south coast of St Catherine, Jamaica, revealed subsistence strategies adapted 

to local conditions of dry thorn woodland and tropical marine edge environments. 

The communities of animals exploited derived exclusively from these 

areas; no montane or pelagic species appeared in the sample. A shift in proportional 

representation of two classes of animals, bony fish and crabs, indicates 

a disruption of, or voluntary change in, procurement patterns. Increasing 

use of fish through time, with a concomitant decrease in (mainly) terrestrial 

crabs, shows a growing reliance on marine resources. 


123


A comparison of Rodney’s House with the White Marl and Bellevue sites 

shows a clear continuum of coastal to inland localized adaptation, with 

Rodney’s House (marine edge) yielding the highest proportion of marine fish, 

and Bellevue (inland hills) contrasting with a greater reliance on terrestrial 

species. White Marl, at a lower elevation than Bellevue and farther from the 

coast than Rodney’s House, is intermediate in its ratio of terrestrial/marine 

taxa. 

Future work on these sites – if it is possible, with urbanization taking place 

so rapidly in Jamaica, even on the south coast – should address the questions 

of plant remains and comparability of molluscan samples from within and 

among the sites. A refinement of crab identifications, as mentioned above, 

may reveal some choices in microhabitat exploitation that are elusive at this 

point.

Appendix 

Table 8.3 Rodney’s House Faunal List 

Scientific Name 

Common Name 

Geocapromys brownii 

Oryzomys antillarum 

Erophylla sezekorni 

cf. Trichechus manatus 

Homo sapiens 

Unidentified mammal 

Jamaican hutia 

Jamaican rice rat 

Buffy flower bat 

West Indian manatee 

Human 

Egretta alba 

Ardeidie 

Columba spp. 

Columbidae 

Rallus longirostris 

Laridae 

Unidentified bird 

Great egret 

Herons and egrets 

Doves 

Doves and pigeons 

Clapper rail 

Seagulls 

Cyclura collei 

Crocodylus acutus 

Chelonia mydas 

Cheloniidae 

Land iguana 

Saltwater crocodile 

Green sea turtle 

Sea turtles 

Carcharhinus cf. leucas 

Carcharhinus maculipinnis 

Carcharhinus spp. 

Caracharhinidae 

Dasyatis spp. 

Chondrichthyes 

Acanthurus spp. 

Albula vulpes 

Archosargus sp. 

Calamus sp. 

Sparidae 

Balistes cf. vetula 

Balistes spp. 

Balistidae 

Belonidae 

Caranx hippos 

Caranx latus 

Bull shark 

Spinner shark 

Requiem shark 

Requiem sharks 

Stingray 

Cartilaginous fish 

Surgeon fish 

Bonefish 

Sheepshead 

Porgy 

Porgies 

Queen triggerfish 

Triggerfish 

Triggerfish 

Needlefish 

Crevalle jack 

Horse-eye jack 


125

Table 8.3 Rodney’s House Faunal List (cont’d) 


Common Name 

Caranx cf. rubber 

Caranx sp. 

Selene vomer 

Carangidae 

Centropomus spp. 

Chaetodipterus faber 

Diapterus spp. 

Diodon hystrix 

Diodon spp. 

Epinephelus morio 

Epinephelus spp. 

Serranidae 

Echeneidae 

Gerreidae 

Gymnothorax sp. 

cf. Muraenidae 

Haemulon cf. album 

Haemulon sciurus 

Haemulon spp. 

Haemulidae 

Lachnolaimus maximus 

Lutjanus cf. analis 

Lutjanus spp. 

Elops sp. 

Megalops atlanticus 

Micropogonias furnieri 

Mugil sp. 

cf. Mugilidae 

Scarus sp. 

Sparisoma spp. 

cf. Scaridae 

Sphyraena barracuda 

Sphyraena spp. 

cf. Strongylura sp. 

Scornberomorus sp. 

Scombridae 

Uid Osteichthyes 

Bar jack 

Jack 

Lookdown 

Jacks 

Snook 

Atlantic spadefish 

Mojarra 

Porcupine fish 

Porcupine fish 

Red grouper 

Grouper 

Sea basses 

Remoras 

Mojarras 

Moray eel 

Morays 

Margate 

Blue striped grunt 

Grunt 

Grunts 

Hogfish 

Mutton snapper 

Snapper 

Ladyfish 

Atlantic tarpon 

Croaker 

Mullet 

Mullets 

Parrotfish 

Parrotfish 

Parrot fishes 

Great barracuda 

Barracuda 

Needlefish 

Mackerel 

Tunas and mackerels 

Bony fishes 

Callinectes spp. 

Cardisoma spp. 

Gecarcinus spp. 

cf. Diogenidae 

Blue crab 

Soldier crab 

Land crab 

Hermit crab 


126



Common Name 

Mithrax sp. 

cf. Mithrax 

Uca sp. 

Uid crab 

Panulirus argus 

Coral crab 

Coral crab 

Fiddler crab 

Spiny lobster 

Melongena melongena 

Murex pomum 

Arca zebra 

Arca spp. 

Neritina piratical 

Neritina virginina 

Chama macerophylla 

Chama spp. 

Crassostrea sp. 

Crown conch 

Apple mumex 

Turkey wing 

Arc shell 

Nerite 

Virgin nerite 

Leafy jewel 

Jewel box 

Eastern oyster 

Ostrea frons 

Arca imbricate 

Chione cancellata 

Anomalocardia brasiliana 

Asaphis deflorata 

Codakia orbicularis 

Anomia simplex 

Anadara brasiliana 

Neritina reclivata 

Neritina versicolor 

Neritina tessellate 

Plicatula gibbosa 

Brachidontes recurvus 

Cittarium pica 

Donax denticulat 

Tectarius muricatus 

Strombus pugilis 

Strombus gigas 

Neritina clenchi 

Phacoides pectinatus 

Strombus costatus 

Astraea caelata 

Chiamys ornate 

Nerita peloranta 

Neritidae 

Petaloconchus McGintyi 

Leafy oyster 

Mossy arc 

Cross-barred venus 

Venus clam 

Sand clam 

Tiger lucina 

Jingle shell 

Brazil arc 

Olive nerite 

Variegated nerite 

Tessellated nerite 

Kitten’s paws 

Sea mussel 

West Indian top shell 

Coquina clam 

Beaded periwinkle 

West Indian fighting conch 

Queen conch 

Nerite 

Comb lucina 

Milk conch 

Engraved star shell 

Ornate scallop 

Bleeding tooth 

Nerites 

Worm shell 


127



Common Name 

Petaloconchus irregularis 

Lithophaga antillarum 

Anadara notabilis 

Latirus McGintyi 

Cantharus auritulus 

Oliva reticularis 

Crepidula aculeate 

Diodora listeri 

Natica cantrena 

Natica cayennensis 

Tellina alternate 

Charonia variegate 

Vasum municatum 

Littorina angulifera 

Pteria sp. 

Worm shell 

Antillean date mussel 

Arc shell 

Latirus 

Lesser whelk 

Netted plive 

Spiny slipper shell 

List keyhole limpet 

Colourful moon shell 

Moon shell 

Alternate tellin 

Trumpet triton 

Caribbean vase shell 

Angulate periwinkle 

Pearl oyster 

Pleurodonte acuta 

Pleurodonte jamaicensis 

No common name 


Pleurodonte sp. 

Dentellaria peracutissima 



Urocoptis sp. 

Uid mollusc 

Rock snails 

Cirripedia 

Polyplacophora 

Barnacles 

Chitons 

128

Section 3 

Analysis of Taíno 

Archaeological Data 

IN JAMAICA, THE most abundant artefacts recovered from Taíno sites are ceramics 

and, second, stone tools. This section analyses and highlights the importance 

of the data recovered from these sites, in particular the stone and 

ceramic artefacts. 

Jamaican Taíno stone artefacts include celts, flint scrapers, zemís and pendants. 

Celts – petal-shaped axe blades made of either stone or shell, formally 

known as polished petaloid celts – are thought to be the most common stone 

tool. Celts, which Afro-Jamaicans call “thunderbolts”, are said to have fallen 

from the sky, and are traditionally placed in yabba pots to cool water (Senior 

1985). Thomas A. Joyce wrote that 

the petaloid celts of Jamaica, both for symmetry and polish, are unsurpassed by 

those of any locality in the world, and considering the fact that they are in 

most cases fashioned from a very hard variety of stone, the amount of patient 

labour involved in their preparation must been enormous. (1907, 234) 

M.J. Roobol and J.W. Lee’s paper, “Petrography and Source of Some 

Arawak Rock Artefacts from Jamaica” (1976, reprinted in this volume), 

reports on the first technical attempt since the nineteenth century to study 

these stone artefacts. The authors were able to identify and subdivide the artefacts 

into major rock types. Roobol and Lee analysed the artefacts according 

to colour, size and texture and were able to identify the source of the stones 

used to make them, thus providing evidence of intra- and inter-island trade. 

The pottery of the Jamaican Taíno has been frequently described as 

“unique” or “simple”. Lovén suggests that the pottery indicates “an endemic 

ceramic development” and adds that compared with the ceramics of other 

Taíno people, those of the Jamaican Taíno are much plainer. Many influences 

that affected the Taíno in Puerto Rico, Española and Cuba never reached 

129


Jamaica (1935, 322). Originally, Jamaican pottery was classified as having sub- 

Taíno cultural traits; however, this terminology is no longer used. The term 

“Western Taíno” is now used by Rouse (1992) and other scholars to indicate 

a culture less developed than that of the Classic Taíno of Hispaniola and 

Puerto Rico. 

The three other chapters in this section, by Norma Rodney-Harrack, J.W. 

Lee and Robyn Woodward, focus on Taíno ceramics. These chapters examine 

overlapping issues from different perspectives. Rodney-Harrack gives a 

general overview of Taíno ceramics, Lee discusses the Jamaican Redware culture, 

and Woodward assesses evidence of Taíno and Hispanic cultural contact. 

Norma Rodney-Harrack’s “Jamaican Taíno Pottery” examines the different 

Taíno ceramic cultures present in Jamaica – the Ostionoid and Meillacan – 

from a master potter’s perspective. She discusses the Taíno techniques of fabricating 

and firing the clay and examines both the various vessel forms recovered 

from Taíno sites and their different surface decorations. 

James W. Lee’s study “Jamaican Redware” (1980c) was the first paper published 

on the Ostionoid culture of the island. It illustrates the history of 

Redware site discoveries. Lee describes the thirteen Redware sites that were 

located before 1980 and the types of ceramics and other artefacts associated 

with this cultural period. Since 1980, twelve additional Redware sites have 

been identified, including Paradise Park, Westmoreland; Mammee Bay, St 

Ann; and Porus and Anderson, both in Manchester (Atkinson 2003, 5). 

Sevilla la Nueva, St Ann’s Bay, is one of the most significant sites in 

Jamaica. The site of the first Spanish capital, it represents the point of cultural 

contact among the Taíno, Spanish, English and Africans. Robyn Woodward’s 

study of the material culture from Seville identifies evidence of Taíno– 

Hispanic cultural contact. Woodward’s research is essential in understanding 

the processes of cultural adaptation and the importance of Taíno labour in 

the establishment of the sixteenth-century Spanish capital.

9 

Petrography and Source 

of Some Arawak Rock 

Artefacts from Jamaica 

M. JOHN R OOBOL 

and 

J AMES 

W. LEE 

THE EARTH’S CRUST comprises three main groups of rock: 

1. Sedimentary – originating as sediments, pebbles, sand, silt and mud, which 

by the various processes of lithification become conglomerates, sandstones, 

shales and mudstones. Where the sediment is composed largely of 

the calcareous remains of organisms, limestone results. 

2. Igneous – originating as a molten material which may be erupted onto 

the earth’s surface to form lavas, domes or pyroclastic (fragmented by 

explosion) deposits, or remain within the crust and form coarser-grained 

intrusions. 

3. Metamorphic – originating when either of the above groups are altered 

due to burial, where increased temperatures and pressures result in the 

formation of new minerals or recrystallization. Such rocks are exposed at 

the earth’s surface by erosion. 

If the geology of the Caribbean islands can be summarized in a few brief 

sentences, it might be said that the Greater Antilles are very similar to one 

another, being composed of an older (pre–60 million years) group of volcanic 

rocks inter-stratified with sediments. The latter are composed of fragments of 

the volcanic rocks and, as such, differ from their quartz-rich counterparts on 

the continents. These older volcanic and volcaniclastic sedimentary rocks have 

been affected to varying extents by metamorphism and also invaded by a belt 

of coarse-grained igneous intrusions. All of these are overlain by a group of 

younger sedimentary rocks (post–60 million years) where limestone predom- 

Originally published in 1976, in Proceedings of the Sixth International Congress for the 

Study of Pre-Columbian Cultures of the Lesser Antilles, Guadeloupe, 1975: 304–13. 

131


inates or is conspicuous. Volcanic rocks are sparsely present amongst these 

younger sedimentary rocks, many of which are unaffected by metamorphism. 

In contrast to the Greater Antilles, the Lesser Antilles – forming the arc from 

Saba in the north through Guadeloupe, Martinique and St Vincent to 

Grenada in the south – are built up almost entirely of volcanic rocks. These 

are all younger than 60 million years old and largely non-metamorphosed. 

This volcanic arc contains abundant active volcanoes and is continuing its 

growth today. 

Thus volcanism was the major factor contributing to the growth of the 

Greater Antilles up until 60 million years ago, probably commencing around 

130 million years ago. Around 60 million years ago, volcanism largely ceased 

along the Greater Antilles but began in the Eastern Caribbean, to build the 

Lesser Antilles. While these latter islands were building, the older, extinct volcanoes 

of the Greater Antilles were buried beneath sediments and partly 

metamorphosed. For further reading on this subject, one should consult 

Khudoley and Meyerhoff (1971) and Weyl (1966). 

If the Caribbean archaeologist can have artefacts examined by a geologist 

in the light of the above variations, it may be possible to locate their sources 

within the Caribbean. In addition, the rocks of the Caribbean islands are very 

youthful and different from those of the earth’s continents, so the geologist 

should be able to identify rocks that have been transported into the 

Caribbean. In Jamaica many such observations can be made. Fresh, white 

vesicular pumice occurs on the Pedro Cays. Those pumices in the Jamaican 

volcanic deposits have been altered by devitrification (as are many old bottles) 

and flattened by compaction, and the deposits lithified. The white 

pumice of the Pedro Cays is characterized by pipe vesicles (a structure found 

in pumice flow deposits) and most probably originated from one of the lateprehistoric 

pumice eruptions of Mt Pelee (Roobol, Pettijean Roget and Smith 

1976) from which it drifted across. Boulders and pebbles of Precambrian 

gneisses and schist – some of the oldest metamorphic rocks on earth – can be 

found on the shores of the geologically youthful Jamaica. Some are scattered 

along the shore of Palisadoes, west of Plumb Point Lighthouse. Such rocks do 

not outcrop on any of the Greater or Lesser Antilles and probably originated 

in Scandinavia, coming to the Caribbean as ballast stones in ships. Those on 

Palisadoes mark the site of an early shipwreck close inshore, now largely 

destroyed by wave action. White Italian marble from Carrara abounds on the 

island in the form of early gravestones, and a fragment of a Carrara marble 

fountain was recently excavated at Kings House, Spanish Town. Around the 

ruined great houses of Jamaica, fragments of British roof slate can be found, 

some of which can be traced to particular quarries in North Wales, such as the 

purple slate with large white-green blebs from Penrhyn quarry.

The results discussed here were obtained from a study of Jamaican Arawak 

artefacts at the Institute of Jamaica, and others made available by members of 

the Archaeological Society of Jamaica. In the first instance, a collection of 

twenty-two broken petaloid tools was examined. As these proved to be 

extremely fine-grained, slices were cut from them and prepared for microscopic 

examination. Once the main rock types were identified with certainty, 

it was possible to identify further specimens without damage, by hand or 

binocular microscope examination of a wet surface. Many specimens required 

scrubbing before examination to remove surface encrustation. 

The Geology of Jamaica 

Unlike other islands of the Greater Antilles, most of the rocks outcropping at 

the surface are limestone (66.7 per cent of the area of Jamaica) containing 

abundant flints. The older volcanic and metamorphic rocks that underlie the 

limestone are exposed in a number of small inliers or erosional windows where 

the limestone has been removed. It is mainly these older metamorphic rocks 

that were used by the Jamaican Arawaks for the manufacture of their tools. 

Because of the distinctive nature of different inliers of oldest rocks, it is relatively 

easy in this case to trace the sources of the Arawak tools. In contrast, the 

other islands of the Greater Antilles have their ancient rocks exposed over 

greater areas (which also accounts for their greater mineral wealth, aside from 

bauxite), so that source areas cannot be pinpointed readily. 

A simplified geological map of Jamaica (Figure 9.1) is based on the provisional 

geology map of Jamaica (1958). In keeping with the outline of the 

Greater Antilles given here, rocks are shown only as five groups. The younger 

series (post–60 million years) is divided between limestone and another group 

of mainly sedimentary rocks (Wagwater conglomerate and Richmond shale) 

containing some volcanic rocks (Newcastle keratophyres). The older series is 

divided as follows: 

1. Sediments (of volcanic debris) found mainly in the inliers at the western 

end of the island. 

2. A group of lavas and sediments with igneous intrusions which have not 

been so altered by burial that their original characteristics are now lost; for 

instance, lavas can still be distinguished from sediments. This group 

occurs in the central part of the island. 

3. Metamorphic rocks occurring only in the large Blue Mountains Inlier 

and the tiny Green Bay inlier near Port Henderson. 

The term metamorphic is used here in the sense that a sufficient portion of 

the rock has recrystallized so that the original characteristics cannot be seen 

P ETROGRAPHY AND S OURCE OF S OME A RAWAK R OCK A RTEFACTS FROM J AMAICA 

133

YOUNGER 

GROUP 

OLDER 

GROUP 

Limestone 

Sediments other than limestone and 

some volcanic lavas 

Sediments 

Lavas, sediments and igneous 

intrusions 

Metamorphic rocks 

1. St James 

2. Trelawny 

3. St Ann 

4. St Mary 

5. Portland 

6. Hanover 

7. Westmoreland 

8. St Elizabeth 

9. Manchester 

10. Clarendon 

11. St Catherine 

12. St Andrew 

Figure 9.1 Simplified geological map of Jamaica showing parishes 

in hand specimens. It is therefore not usually possible to say whether the original 

rock was, for instance, lava, a conglomerate or a sandstone before it was 

metamorphosed. Sometimes on a sawed section or under the microscope it 

may be possible to see a few relict structures or textures indicative of its origin. 

Most of the metamorphic rocks of Jamaica have not undergone a major 

alteration and can be considered to be only lightly metamorphosed. They 

appear as extremely fine-grained massive rocks lacking structure. Indeed, the 

crystals are so small that very often it is difficult to identify them under the 

microscope. 

The most common of these rocks are coloured green, and the term “greenstone” 

seems as good as any. Less common is a black-coloured variety (“blackstone”), 

which occurs interlayered with the greenstone; where the two occur 

in cliff faces, they are usually strongly folded. Marble (metamorphosed limestone) 

also occurs interlayered with the greenstone – for example, at the 

quarry at Serge Island Estate in the east arm of the Morant River, southern 

Blue Mountains. A higher degree of metamorphism results in a coarsergrained 

rock which shows a foliation of crystals. Such a rock is called a schist 

and tends to split easily. 


Petaloid Axes of Arawak Origin from Jamaica 

During the present study, 456 specimens of smooth-ground petaloid axe were 

examined. Eight different rock types were recognized; the numbers and percentages 

of each are listed in Table 9.1. Each of the rock groups is described 

and their probable sources within Jamaica discussed below. 

Greenstone 

This is by far the most common rock used for the celts (78.3 per cent). 

Greenstone celts vary in texture and colour. Most are extremely fine-grained, 

others coarser, so that individual crystals can be seen in the hand specimen. 

They generally lack structures, although a few show sparse, well-shaped, 

large feldspar crystals on polished surfaces, indicating that the particular 

specimen was a lava before metamorphism. All are green-coloured, although 

the shade varies: some are black-green due to a predominance of the mineral 

chlorite, others are vegetable-green due to actinolite, and still others are yellow-green 

due to epidote. Some are mottled due to a patchy distribution of 

these minerals. The three green minerals all form during the relatively low- 

Table 9.1 Lithology of Arawak Petaloid Celts from Jamaica 

Collection 

White 

Schist* 

Blue 

Schist* 

Lava 

Greenstone* 

Blackstone* 

Sedimentary 

Rock 

Conch 

Shell 

Mineral 

1. J. Lee, Pres., ASJ 260 37 5 1 17 8 8 1 

2. Bond coll., IOJ 59 – 1 1 – 5 – – 

3. Mannings Hill coll. of 

Senior, Medhurst, Clarke 

and Hart 19 3 – 1 4 – – – 

4. Alligator Pond coll. 

S. Hart 1 – – – 1 – – – 

5. Naggo Head coll. 

G. Senior 1 – – – 1 – – – 

6. Lee coll., 22 celts 

microscope study 17 2 – – 1 1 – 1 

Totals 357 42 6 3 24 14 8 2 

Percentages 78.3 9.2 1.3 0.7 5.3 3.1 1.7 0.4 

*Metamorphic rocks as found in the Blue Mountain Inlier 


135

pressure, low-temperature, hydrous burial metamorphism of older rocks. The 

small crystals are interlocking so that the rock is extremely tough. Their 

hardness is similar to that of steel, with some harder and some softer. Where 

the greenstones of Jamaica outcrop, they usually show a good jointing or 

parting; however, by the time the fragments have been transported some 

distance by river, all joint planes have been opened, and the resulting pebbles 

are extremely tough. It is probable that river pebbles were the principal 

source. Greenstones occur in the Blue Mountain Inlier where they form the 

core of the mountains, especially on the south side of the ridge. They also 

occur in the tiny inlier behind the beach at Green Bay, Port Henderson. At 

the latter locality the rocks are schistose and probably unsuitable for the 

manufacture of tools. 

The term “greenstone” as used here would also include the hydrous silicate 

mineral nephrite, which is the most common variety of jade. Although the latter 

has not yet been identified in Jamaica, it is interesting to note that this particular 

variety of greenstone was similarly used for stone implements in 

Mexico, at the Swiss Lake Habitations and by the Maori of New Zealand, 

whose term for nephrite was punamu – axe stone. 

Blackstone 

This variety of low-grade metamorphic rock contains similar minerals to the 

greenstone but also an abundance of tiny granules of the black iron oxide 

magnetite. Axes made from this type of stone retain a high degree of polish. 

Blackstone occurs only in the Blue Mountain Inlier of Jamaica, where it interleaves 

with the greenstone but is far less common in occurrence. 

White Schist 

Also restricted to the Blue Mountain Inlier are small areas of white schist. 

These are coarser-grained than the greenstone and usually have a poor schistosity. 

They are composed of the white or colourless minerals quartz, feldspar 

and muscovite (white mica). White schist represents a higher degree of metamorphism 

than the greenstone and blackstone. A small number of axes are 

made of this rock type, which has an unfortunate tendency to split readily 

because of the parallelism of muscovite flakes. The white schist occurs only 

in the Blue Mountains of Jamaica in close proximity to the greenstone and 

blackstone – all having been faulted up from great depths to form the mountains. 

White-schist pebbles occur in the same riverbeds as the greenstones. 

They are, however, far from common, as white schist occurs only sparsely. 


Blue Schist 

The story of Jamaican blue schist is particularly interesting. The rock has a 

striking blue colour caused by the mineral glaucophane. This rock currently 

has great geological significance as it forms under conditions of low-temperature, 

high-pressure metamorphism, thought to exist only at the margins of 

lithospheric plates (in terms of current plate tectonic theory). It was previously 

known in the Caribbean only in southeast Cuba and the Dominican Republic 

but was discovered in Jamaica in 1972 on Union Hill, St Thomas, on the 

south flanks of the Blue Mountain Inlier (Draper and Horsfield 1973). This 

prominent hill forms the divide between the eastern and western arms of the 

Morant River, and sparse pebbles of blue schist occur in the riverbed. They are 

very rare on the south-coast beaches. Three celts are composed of this rock, 

which almost certainly originated in Union Hill. 

Lava 

A number of celts are composed of relatively unaltered lava – mostly andesites, 

readily recognized by their porphyritic texture of large, well-shaped crystals of 

white feldspar and black pyroxene or amphibole, set in a finer-grained 

ground-mass. It is not possible to identify the source of the lava as such rocks 

are found in all of the inliers of older rocks in Jamaica. They occur either as 

ancient lava flows or as pebbles and boulders of lava in the sedimentary rocks, 

where they were derived by erosion of the ancient lavas many millions of years 

ago. Lava boulders are also abundant in the younger sedimentary rocks of 

Jamaica and have a similar origin. It is possible, however, that one day archaeologists 

may find a tool with such striking and unusual texture that it can be 

matched with its parent lava flow. Several such flows exist; for example, in 

the Wagwater River there are pebbles of an andesite lava with abundant 

feldspar phenocrysts around 3 cm long. The Swift River in Portland provides 

the north-coast beaches with pebbles of another striking andesite, notable for 

an abundance of cube-shaped, plagioclase phenocrysts. 

Sedimentary Rock 

A few axes are composed of the sedimentary rocks sandstone and shale. These 

are khaki- or yellow-coloured, and their source cannot be located as they occur 

as both younger and older sedimentary rocks across the island. It is surprising 

to see tools manufactured from these rocks, for although the coarser sedimentary 

grains are composed of lava or hard minerals found in lava, the grains are 


137

cemented by calcite. This mineral breaks very easily, so such tools are inferior 

to those of low-grade metamorphic rock. 

Mineral 

Only two specimens were found which were manufactured from samples of 

what might be called mineral rather than rock, as they are largely mono-minerallic. 

One of these is composed of white calcite crystals. Layers of this mineral 

occur as cavity linings in limestone. The cavity forms by solution of the 

limestone in percolating underground water, and the coarsely crystalline 

calcite is a later partial infilling caused by reprecipitation from the circulating 

water. The second specimen (A277, site A-14 – Tobolski, St Ann) is an 

altered iron ore (mainly the mineral magnetite). Such a mineral deposit is best 

known at Mavis Bank, St Andrew, near Kingston. Boulders of similar material 

have been found derived from unexplored mineral deposits in the headwaters 

of the east arm of the Morant River on the south side of the Blue 

Mountains and in the Swift River on the north side. 

Conch Shell 

A small number of celts were manufactured from the shell of the common 

conch (Strombus), which can be found today all around the island, browsing 

on seagrass (Thallasia) in shallow water. Similar celts were described from 

Jamaica by Duerden (1897). 

Other Rock Artefacts from Arawak Sites 

A small number of other artefacts were examined and found to be manufactured 

from rocks and minerals common to Jamaica. 

Flint Scrapers 

A fine set of about twenty elongate flakes or scrapers of flint was recently 

gathered (H.R. Clarke collection) at site K-13, Bellevue, St Andrew. A few 

others are present in the collections at the Institute of Jamaica. Many are mentioned 

by Duerden (1897). The Lee collection contains numerous flint specimens, 

chiefly from north-coast sites in the Montego Bay area (sites J-1, 

Mammee Hill; J-3, Fairfield; and J-11, Mount Salem) and in St Mary (Y-4, 

Rio Nuevo; Y-14, Iter Boreale; Y-15, Nonsuch; Y-17, Tweedside; and Y-19, 


Coleraine) but also from other major sites in Trelawny and St Ann (T-1, New 

Forest; T-3, Spring; and A-19, Windsor). Secondary working of flakes is 

extremely rare. These flints originate in the white limestone group, which covers 

two-thirds of Jamaica; some can be traced to particular horizons as they 

contain an abundance of silicified fossils. The flints are concentrated in the 

rivers and on beaches around the island. 

Beads 

Eight small (1 cm diameter) cylindrical beads perforated by a central hole 

were examined (Lee and Clarke collections). Three are from site K-13, 

Bellevue, St Andrew; three from C-7, Harmony Hall, Clarendon; one from 

Y-21, Fort Haldane, St Mary, and one from E-5, Alligator Pond, St 

Elizabeth. All are composed of white chalcedony containing small green crystals 

of the minerals epidote and chlorite. The rock can be matched only with 

chalcedony pods present in the greenstones of the southern Blue Mountains 

Inlier. Lee obtained spherical beads of limestone from S-8, Marlie Mount, 

and S-12, Naggo Head, both in St Catherine. 

Pendants 

Seven pendants were examined and found to be composed of rocks that can 

be readily matched in Jamaica. Four (Lee collection), from Y-19, Coleraine, St 

Mary; Pepper, St Elizabeth; S-12, Naggo Head, St Catherine; and C-12, 

Logie Green, Clarendon, are composed of polished clear keratophyre. A fifth 

pendant of this rock has just been found by James Godfrey of Mandeville at 

E-2, Fort Charles, St Elizabeth. Keratophyre is a rare altered igneous rock in 

Jamaica, and the clear, non-weathered variety is found only in the Stony River 

Valley in the southern Blue Mountains Inlier, although extensive outcrops of 

its weathered equivalent occur along the Wagwater Belt (see Figure 9.1). 

Pendants found by Lee at Runaway Bay, St Ann, and at T-1, New Forest, 

Trelawny, are of calcite and limestone, respectively. Two other pendants (G. 

Senior collection) found at K-13, Bellevue, St Andrew, are composed of porphyritic 

lava, which cannot be traced to a particular locality. 

Pebbles and Boulders 

Numbers of unworked pebbles and boulders have been found in Jamaican 

middens. These too, like the petaloid celts, can often be demonstrated as being 

alien to the midden area. Most common are pebbles of greenstone. One very 


139

unusual specimen (Medhurst collection) was found at Mannings Hill. It is a 

white, garnet-bearing rock, which occurs only as inclusions in the serpentinite 

in the vicinity of the Stony River, southern Blue Mountains. 

Artefacts of Rocks Alien to Jamaica 

All of the artefacts so far described were manufactured from rocks and minerals 

common to Jamaica. This does not prove that they originated in Jamaica, 

as the geology of this island is very similar to that of Hispaniola and Puerto 

Rico. Only two of the artefacts found were composed of rock that can be 

proven to have originated outside of Jamaica. A small, well-shaped pendant 

from K-13, Bellevue, St Andrew (H.R. Clarke collection), is composed of 

granular quartzite. A similar but broken pendant was found at C-8, Wallman 

Town, Clarendon, by Lee (specimen no. 368). These two small artefacts are of 

great interest, as quartzite does not occur in either the Greater or the Lesser 

Antilles. The rock quartzite forms from sands composed almost entirely of 

quartz grains which either are metamorphosed and recrystallized or are 

cemented in a sedimentary environment by silica. Quartz does not form a 

common detrital grain in the Greater Antilles. More than 60 million years 

ago, a number of large bodies or intrusions of quartz-bearing igneous material 

(granodiorite and tonalite) were emplaced along the Greater Antilles. Their 

subsequent deroofing and erosion provided more detrital quartz in the 

younger sediments. Quartzite occurs in areas where the most ancient recrystallized 

parts of the Earth’s crust are being eroded – the nearest place being 

northern South America. It is therefore concluded that these two artefacts 

were transported to Jamaica via the Lesser Antilles from South America. 

Subdivision of Greenstone Group 

The next step in the petrographic study is the subdivision of the greenstone 

group. This at present covers a wide variety of rock types differing in grain 

size, texture, structure, composition, mineral assemblage and ability to take a 

polish. Separation of at least the most striking types could provide an estimate 

of inter-island trade or migration within the Greater Antilles (a particularly 

striking study could be made in Puerto Rico, near the eastern end of the 

greenstone belt, southeast of which only lavas and rare cherts or jaspers are 

available on the volcanic Lesser Antilles). A preliminary attempt at such a 

study was made when eight stone celts and one pestle from Haiti were compared 

with their Jamaican counterparts in Lee’s collection. Three Haitian 

specimens of distinctive rock types matched exactly (by hand lens) the rock 


from which several Jamaican artefacts were made. In every instance, there 

were four or more Jamaican specimens corresponding to the Haitian celt. 

Although lacking absolute certainty of comparison, this evidence points 

strongly to an origin in one or the other island and to the existence of pre- 

Columbian inter-island trade. Another celt from Lee’s collection (no. 197) 

compares exactly in shape and rock colour, type and texture with a specimen 

in the museum at Roseau, Dominica, which was found in that island. Because 

the rock is a flow-textured young volcanic type, it appears that the Jamaican 

specimen is an import from the Lesser Antilles. 

Discussion 

The percentages of rock types for the celts, together with the artefacts 

described above, indicate that by far the greater part of the Jamaican Arawak 

rock and mineral artefacts are composed of metamorphic rocks similar to 

those occurring either in the southern part of the Blue Mountain Inlier or at 

Green Bay, Port Henderson. Their presence across the entire island suggests 

that they were transported there. Some of this transportation occurred naturally 

by rivers and longshore drift along the coast. A check was made on all 

rivers draining the Blue Mountains to assess their content of greenstone pebbles 

and boulders. The Wagwater River, Rio Nuevo and Rio Grande lack 

them. There are a few pebbles of greenstone in the Swift River, more in the 

Yallahs River, but it is only in the lower reaches of the Morant River on the 

south flanks of the Blue Mountains that such pebbles are abundant. 

Greenstone pebbles are therefore being added to the beaches in some quantity 

only along the south shore of the Blue Mountains. Here the longshore 

drift is from east to west, and it is surprising how sparse the content of pebbles 

has become on the Palisadoes beach bar, south of Kingston. It must therefore 

be concluded that greenstone pebbles can be collected, with patience, 

from the beaches south of the Blue Mountains, and readily only from the 

Morant River. 

In 1972, blue schist – an extremely rare rock in the Caribbean – was discovered 

for the first time in Jamaica on Union Hill, separating the east and 

west arms of the Morant River. Three celts were found to be composed of this 

rock, which can be traced to Union Hill or – as extremely sparse pebbles – in 

the Morant River. The five pendants of keratophyre lava, together with the 

garnetiferous boulder mentioned previously, can be matched only with rocks 

outcropping between the Stony River and Cedar Valley on the south flanks 

of the Blue Mountains Inlier, immediately west of the Morant River. It is 

therefore concluded that the Arawak Indians of Jamaica did not make many 

of their rock tools and decorations from rock and pebbles in the vicinity of the 


141

middens; rather, they obtained mainly fine-grained metamorphic rocks from 

the rivers and shores of the southern Blue Mountains. This indicates that 

domestic trade must have existed within the island. 

Although the data are not really sufficient, a start has been made on cataloguing 

the lithologies of the petaloid tools parish by parish (Table 9.2). The 

ultimate aim must be to catalogue midden by midden, where the percentages 

of the different rock types used will reflect movement across the island; this 

may vary by stratigraphic level. For the seven parishes where there is a fair 

number of samples, the percentages of tools composed of non-metamorphic 

rocks (that is, those that could be collected from areas other than the southern 

Blue Mountains) have been determined. It is tempting to look at this 

sparse data and to see yet another correlation with the geology of Jamaica. The 

percentages of non-metamorphic rocks appear to be greatest for south-coast 

parishes, suggesting that the wide gravel plains of the south coast provided a 

small percentage of non-metamorphic pebbles suitable for tool making. The 

presence of only limestone and flints along the north coast of Jamaica results 

Table 9.2 Lithology of Petaloid Celts from Some Parishes of Jamaica 

Metamorphic 

Non-metamorphic 

Parish 

White 

Schist 

Blue 

Schist 

Lava 

Blackstone 

Greenstone 

Sedimentary 

Rock 

Conch 

Shell 

Mineral 

Per cent 

Non-metamorphic 

Trelawny 60 6 – – 1 1 – – 3.0 

N. Coast 88.2% 8.8% – – 1.5% 1.5% – – – 

St Ann 57 12 2 – 1 1 1 2 6.5 

N. Coast 75.0% 15.8% 2.6% – 1.3% 1.3% 1.3% 2.6% 

St Elizabeth 52 4 1 1 4 4 3 – 15.9 

S. Coast 75.4% 6.0% 1.5% 1.5% 6.0% 6.0% 4.3% – – 

Manchester 33 7 – – 2 – – – 4.8 

S. Coast 78.6% 16.7% – – 4.8% – – – 

Clarendon 15 3 – – 2 1 – – 14.3 

S. Coast 71.4% 14.3% – – 9.5% 4.8% – – – 

St Catherine 23 5 2 – 5 – – – 14.3 

S. Coast 65.7% 14.3% 5.7% – 14.3% – – – – 

St Andrew 23 3 – 1 5 – – – 15.6 

S. Coast 71.9% 9.4% – 3.1% 15.6% – – – – 

Note: Whole numbers corresponding to individual parishes represent numbers of celts found there. 


in a lack of suitable rocks, so that imported Blue Mountains metamorphic 

rock predominates there. 

Comments on the 1895 Display of Arawak Material 

In November 1895, Mr J.E. Duerden, curator of the museum of the Institute 

of Jamaica, assembled a large collection of Arawak artefacts and described 

them in his excellent publication of 1897. Although at that time far less was 

known than today of the geology of Jamaica and of the other Caribbean 

islands, it is of particular interest, in the light of the present work, to requite 

Duerden’s observations on the lithologies of the collection of almost four hundred 

celts that he assembled. He wrote of the celts: 

The material of which the implements are composed varies considerably, examples 

of most of the types of the sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous rocks 

being met with. The most abundant material undoubtedly belongs to the trappean 

series of rocks, including the trachytes, felsites, rhyolites, and basalts, so 

prominent in various part of the island. Dolerite is rather common, as well as a 

greenish schist, and others graduating between quartzites and gneisses. A metamorphic 

siliceous green rock resembling jade, and taking a high polish, is met 

with, sometimes with light and dark bands. Most of the material is such as 

occurs in the island. The flint is the same as is derived from various districts. 

(1897, 37) 

There is a discrepancy here between Duerden’s observations and those presented 

here. His trappean group are here grouped as lava. His identification 

refers to hand specimens, and the term would not be used today in the light 

of chemical analyses. Duerden’s trachyte is probably a flow-banded andesite, 

the felsite and rhyolite are keratophyre, and the basalt either black vitrophyric 

andesite or spilite. Nonetheless, his point that the lava group predominates 

differs from the present study, where lava makes up only 5.3 per cent. The 

greenish schist and metamorphic jade-like rock undoubtedly refer to the present 

greenstone group and the gneiss to the present white schist group. His 

observation of quartzite is very interesting in the light of the two pendants 

described here, but may refer to sandstones. The problem is raised, however, 

as to why, in a collection of almost 400 celts, lava should predominate, whereas 

in the present study of 450, metamorphic rocks predominate. Duerden listed 

the ownership of the celts he described, and none of them were available 

during the present study. Apart from the Bond collection of sixty-six celts 

from the Institute, all of the remainder examined during the present study 

were collected by members of the Archaeological Society of Jamaica during 

the past two decades. There are several possible explanations for the difference 

in predominant rock type between the two collections. 


143

1. The study made by Duerden was not primarily aimed at the petrography, 

and he examined only a small, non-representative group. His terminology, 

however, is such that anyone familiar with Jamaican rocks can 

recognize his groupings, except perhaps for “dolerite”. 

2. Perhaps neither of the two collections is representative of the island, and 

further study is required of larger numbers of samples. We do not favour 

this solution. Over a two-year period, while increasing numbers of celts 

were being examined, the proportions of the different groups did not 

change appreciably from that established in the initial set of twenty-two 

celts (see Table 9.1). 

3. There is a stratigraphic variation in the proportion of rock types. Many of 

the celts available to Duerden were complete and were collected from off 

the surface of the earth. These presumably represented the youngest 

material. After these had been collected and removed from circulation, 

erosion and cuts for foundations and roads would have revealed a generally 

older set of celts in which broken specimens from middens were more 

frequent. It is possible that in the older celts greenstones predominate, 

while in the younger group volcanic rocks (perhaps even imported from 

other islands) predominate. 

There seems no immediate way of settling this problem other than by further 

examination of more celts, both in Jamaica and in the early collections 

now on other Caribbean islands or on the North, Central and South 

American mainland. 

Conclusions 

The petrographic study of Arawak rock artefacts from Jamaica has provided 

an answer to the question of source material. Nearly all rock artefacts can be 

matched with rocks outcropping in Jamaica, where the geology is similar to 

that of the Greater Antilles as a whole. Around 90 per cent of the artefacts are 

manufactured from low-grade metamorphic rocks, of which greenstone predominates. 

To a much lesser extent, ancient lava was used. Rarely, friable sedimentary 

and mineral specimens were used. Only two small, well-shaped 

pendants can be shown to be composed of rock alien to the Antilles, and 

these, significantly, are small pendants, bored and carried attached to the body. 

However, a preliminary attempt at subdivision of the greenstones for a comparison 

of Haitian and Jamaican samples reveals varieties common to both 

islands. This suggests that within the Greater Antilles there were common 

origins and consequently transport between the islands. 


A surprising conclusion of the present petrographic study is that most of 

the rocks used, if derived from Jamaica, must have a source in the southern 

Blue Mountains. The fissile greenstone of the tiny Green Bay Inlier is unsuitable 

for working. The present degree of understanding of Caribbean geology 

is such that the conclusion about the utilization of metamorphic rock in the 

Greater Antilles raises another question. In the Lesser Antilles the active 

volcanic islands lack metamorphic rocks, which are thus not available for tool 

manufacture. What then did the people of these islands use to make tools? 

Furthermore, any artefacts manufactured from low-grade metamorphic rock 

in the Lesser Antilles must have been transported there from either northern 

Venezuela or the Greater Antilles. With this unanswered question in mind, 

it is interesting to note that one of us was recently shown a broken Arawak celt 

in Martinique (collection of the president of the Society of History), which 

was composed of greenstone. On this island its “unusual” colour had attracted 

attention. 


We wish to thank members of the Archaeological Society of Jamaica for making available 

their collections and Mr Bernard Lewis and Mr Neville Dawes for permission to 

examine the collections at the Institute of Jamaica. The study was made between 1972 

and 1974 while one of us (MJR) lectured at the University of the West Indies, 

Kingston, Jamaica. 


145

10 

Jamaican 

Taíno Pottery 

N ORMA 

R ODNEY-HARRACK 

EARLY JAMAICAN POTTERY designs, in terms of their form and 

decorative elements, can be traced to the indigenous Taíno people. Two Taíno 

pottery phases have been identified for Jamaica, the Ostionoid culture and the 

Meillacan culture (Rouse 1992, 107). 

Ostionoid/Ostionan Culture 

The Ostionan were Jamaica’s earliest inhabitants, from AD 600 to 900 (ibid.), 

and the first ceramic culture to arrive in the island. Ostionan pottery is often 

referred to as Redware, reflective of the red slip or gilt that was painted, 

smudged or banded on in areas of the pot’s shoulder. Redware sites are generally 

found on Jamaica’s southern coasts, with exceptions in the parish of St 

Ann (see Lee 1980c). Their pottery is characterized by a fine-grained red 

bauxite clay “body”. Taíno pottery is frequently burnished to a high, lustrous 

sheen and decorated with zoomorphic designs of turtles, manatees, fish and 

crocodiles. 

Meillacan Culture 

The Meillacan culture appeared after AD 900 (Rouse 1992, 107). Meillacan 

pottery is also locally known as White Marl, after its type-site at White Marl, 

Central Village, in St Catherine. This type of pottery is formulated from a 

non-lustrous brown clay paste and has a thinner clay wall than Redware pottery 

(Figure 10.1). These potters incorporated various decorative motifs that 

were impressed, incised and modelled. The Meillacan people occupied the 

entire island – coasts, plains, low-lying hills and highland interior – and consequently, 

their pottery is found virtually everywhere on the island. 

146

Figure 10.1 Redware, White Marl and Montego Bay styles. (Vanderwal 1968a.) 

147

These two types form the main origins of early Jamaican pottery. A subphase 

known as the Montego Bay style (see Figure 10.1) is said to be less 

striking in its deviation from the main Jamaican pottery tradition, particularly 

in its use of incision. This ceramic substyle is found in the western section of 

the island – for instance, at Fairfield, St James. 

Fabrication Method 

Taíno hand-coiled pottery reached an aesthetic level comparable to that of 

more advanced ceramic cultures. Taíno potters are documented as having had 

good knowledge of local clays, which they used extensively to fashion a wide 

range of shapes for varying uses. To strengthen the fabric of the fired pottery, 

they first tempered the clays with substances such as sand, ash, crushed shell 

or vegetable fibres. The Taíno, it is presumed, would lay out coils vertically, in 

concentric circles, for bowls and jars, and horizontally for plates and flat-bottomed 

vessels, such as buréns. Modelling with their hands, they smoothed and 

fused the coils together. They also employed the paddle-and-anvil technique 

to thin and compress the clay walls of their pots: the anvil is held inside the pot 

while the paddle is used on the outside. This process resulted in thin-walled, 

lightweight pots, some of which can be seen in our heritage museums. 

Pottery Forms 

Figure 10.2 Normal 

boat-shaped vessel. 

(Institute of Jamaica 

Collection.) 

A large percentage of Taíno pottery exhibits a low lustre on both exterior and 

interior surfaces as a result of burnishing without a gilt or slip. Burnishing is 

a process of smoothing leather-hard clay with a hard object, like a smooth 

pebble, for decorative purposes and to give a hard, 

dense coating to unglazed ware. 

The corpus of Taíno pottery included bowls for 

cooking and serving, effigy vessels, buréns (cassava 

griddles), body stamps and other forms of human 

and zoomorphic designs for ancestral worship. But 

the two basic shapes that remained intrinsic to 

Jamaican Taíno pottery are the round and boatshaped 

bowls. The boat, or oval, shape is the more 

common of the two (Figure 10.2). These vessels 

usually have both ends elevated and often terminate in cylindrical or flat handles 

that flare at the tips. An alternative design has only one end elevated, 

resulting in a calabash shape. When the boat-shaped vessel is devoid of terminal 

handles, the stems or projecting ends are modelled to form thickened 


triangular ridges. It is thought that the shape of the turtle may have inspired 

the oval or boat-shaped vessels; the Taíno esteemed the turtle and used turtle 

motifs extensively as adornment on their pottery. 

In contrast, the round bowls were modelled in a form similar to the calabash, 

sometimes with only one end elevated (Figure 10.3). Often when terminal 

handles are absent, the stems of the vessels, like those of the 

boat-shaped bowls, are worked into slightly thickened 

triangular ridges. Both round and oval bowls 

have symmetrically rounded bottoms and frequently 

have distinctive shoulders. With or without a shoulder, 

the sides of these bowls invariably curve 

inwards towards the rim so that the opening is 

smaller than the greatest diameter. A vessel of this 

shape is commonly referred to as a carinated bowl. 

Carination is an angular bending used to turn pots 

sharply inwards or create a constricted mouth with 

inward-curving shoulders. 

The bowls were made for several purposes: some 

were used for cooking and serving and others as eating vessels. Others were 

specifically made for sniffing during zemí worship. Some bore complex 

designs and are thought to have been used for preparation of food during a ritual 

or as a burial offering. Other pottery items include bottles, effigy vessels, 

carafes, funerary urns and buréns for baking cassava bread. The functions of 

these vessels, however, do not appear to have a strict morphological correlation. 

Many types of vessels were smoothed on the outside, indicating their use 

as cooking pots. Variations in depth suggest possible differences in function. 

Taíno potters also made body stamps. The Taínos did not wear much clothing; 

instead they decorated their bodies with designs using pottery stamps 

coated with red, white and black pigments obtained from plants and coloured 

clays. 

We believe that the most intricate objects were made by women who were 

receptive to new ideas, drawing on traditions from their own society and fusing 

them with elements of Jamaican life into something unique. The 

autochthonous Taíno people sought out influences from the environment that 

would lead them through to their own creative trajectory. 

Figure 10.3 Round 

vessel. (Institute of 

Jamaica Collection.) 

Surface Decoration 

The most distinguishing feature of Taíno pottery is its surface decoration, 

which incorporated incising, punctuation, modelling and other techniques 

to produce designs of parallel and curved lines, spirals, cross-hatching and 

J AMAICAN TAÍNO P OTTERY 

149

Figure 10.4 Handled 

Taíno bowl. 


Collection.) 

circles. These decorative motifs, undoubtedly the 

hallmark of Taíno pottery, have long aroused interest 

among scholars, archaeologists and historians. 

Taínos customarily incorporated modelled heads 

of human and animal forms on lugs and handles of 

their vessels (Figure 10.4). Several such adornments 

can be identified with certainty as turtle and snake 

heads, whereas others portrayed spiritual zemí symbols 

as well as objects of power that represented 

gods and ancestors. 

Lugs and handles show the greatest variation and are the most frequently 

decorated features of Taíno pottery. There are four main types of handles 

(Figure 10.5): cylindrical knob-like handles, hourglass-shaped flaring handles 

A. Flaring-type (or 

hourglass) 

B. Looped handle 

C. Cylindrical knob 

D. Laterally 

Perforated 

F. Bottle neck 

G. S-shaped motif 

H. Filleting and “W” 

I. Perforation and 

“W” 

J. Handle with 

human facial 

features 

K. Dot and circle 

L. Vertical incised 

lines (reptile) 

Figure 10.5 Handles, lugs and decorative motifs. (Howard 1950.) 

150

(also see Figure 10.6), loop handles, and raised, laterally 

perforated knob handles (also see Figure 

10.7). 

The looped handle is the least frequently 

encountered, while the hourglass type, usually 

placed at both ends of boat-shaped vessels, is the 

most frequently seen. Cylindrical knobs were often 

placed at either end of a vessel, at the apex or just 

below the rim. There may be one such knob or 

groups of two or three smaller ones. The laterally 

perforated knob handle, which resembles a crude face with perforations representing 

the eye and the ridge 

of the mouth, is said to be 

unique to Jamaica. Their 

large size would indicate 

their probable use on large 

bowls and jars (Figure 10.7). 

The most common type of 

lug is wedge-shaped; these 

were customarily placed on the 

shoulder or rim and at the end 

of a vessel. 

Figure 10.7 Laterally perforated handle. 

(Illustration by Audrey Wiles, James W. 

Lee collection. Courtesy of the Jamaica 

Bauxite Institute.) 

Incised linear designs appear 

to have been a favourite with 

Taíno potters. Curved lines, also 

referred to as ribboning (Figure 

10.8), and parallel lines occurred 

on only a few potsherds. Spirals and circles were also 

used. Cross-hatching was a common decorative 

motif around the vessel (Figure 10.9). There are several 

variations of these basic patterns. 

The favoured areas for incised decorations were 

the vessels’ shoulders, handles and lugs. Rims and 

edges only rarely received ornamentation. Rims, 

however, are known for the significant feature of filleting, 

in which the edge of the wall was turned outwards 

and flattened against itself, or a strip or small 

coil of clay was added to the outside of the vessel 

against the rim and then smoothed into the wall. 

According to James W. Lee, “The favourite motif [of Taíno potters] was 

the turtle, with head and foreflippers at one end of a bowl and tail and hind- 

Figure 10.6 Taíno 

bowl with hourglasstype 

handle. 


Collection). 

Figure 10.8 Ribbon 

decoration. (Norma 

Rodney-Harrack 

collection.) 

J AMAICAN TAÍNO P OTTERY 

151

Figure 10.9 Crosshatch 

decoration. 

(Illustration by 

Audrey Wiles, James 

W. Lee collection. 

Courtesy of the 

Jamaica Bauxite 

Institute.) 

flippers at the opposite end. Incision 

was used to create the impression of 

scales, particularly on the flippers” 

(Lee 1980b, 600). It was also customary 

for the sides of bowls to have 

extended turtle fins modelled onto 

them. Bowls were the preferred items 

for adornment: moulded and sculpted elements 

were attached to them for either utilitarian 

or purely decorative purposes, or a 

combination of both. It is not unusual for 

Taíno enthusiasts to employ the Spanish word 

adorno in reference to pottery adornment. Primarily, adornos are 

either zoomorphic or anthropomorphic. The eye, moulded in pairs, is a significant 

adornment feature. 

Firing 

The process of transforming the clay body into pottery by exposing it to heat 

is called firing. Indigenous societies practised simple firing in the open using 

wood, dung and grass. Taíno potters used this type of firing; they packed 

their dry pots atop one another in the open and stacked potsherds, wood, grass 

and twigs around them. As the firing took place, this fuel became a body of 

hot embers that retained the heat directly around the pots. 

The Taíno population is said to have dwindled before the impact of the 

aggressive Spanish colonizers and European diseases to which they had no 

immunity. According to J. H. Parry and Philip Sherlock, “within less than 100 

years they were extinct” (1971, v). However, this matter is debatable, as individuals 

and groups of Indians managed to survive and integrate with the 

Jamaican maroons (Agorsah 1994; Wilson 1997a). What is apparent is that 

many of their cultural traditions had been passed on through domestic unions, 

social interaction and cultural fusion throughout the centuries. 


11 

Jamaican 

Redware 

J AMES 

W. LEE 

A DISTINCTIVE ABORIGINAL pottery style found in eleven 

Jamaican occupation sites has been named Redware because of the characteristic 

red slip applied to parts of some vessels. Lieutenant Commander J.S. 

Tyndale-Biscoe, an English surveyor and amateur archaeologist, had noticed, 

long before 1933, that many potsherds from the dry southern coastal areas of 

St Elizabeth parish showed an unmistakable red slip, but he had no occasion 

to write about his discovery, nor did he realize until much later (1962) that 

this was a separate culture both in style and time from other Arawak settlements 

in Jamaica. 

Howard (1956) described in some detail the ceramics of the “Little River 

style” and agreed with De Wolf (1953) that, chronologically, it belonged to 

Rouse’s period IIIa (Rouse 1951, 1964). Ronald L. Vanderwal, then government 

archaeologist, had charcoal from the Alligator Pond site (M-4) tested in 

1965 and gave the date as AD 650 ± 120 (Vanderwal 1968a). By comparison, 

the earliest date so far determined for White Marl type-sites in Jamaica is AD 

900. Recent work at the Rodney’s House site (S-5) by John Wilman (1978) 

suggests the possibility of an age at that location pre-dating the White Marl 

site but with the same style of pottery. 

Lee (1976a) summarized the Redware status as of that date and later 

(1978c) reviewed the overall picture of this culture in a paper submitted to the 

Ponce conference in August 1978. 

Redware Sites 

Except for the two most recently discovered occupation sites (which are both 

about 1 km inland), all the Redware settlements were directly on the seashore 

Originally published in 1980, in Proceedings of the Eighth International Congress for the 

Study of Pre-Columbian Cultures of the Lesser Antilles, St Kitts, 1979: 597–609. 

153

Figure 11.1 Map of Jamaican Redware sites (prior to 1980) 

(Figure 11.1). Midden material in sites usually commences at the high-water 

mark and extends at most only a few hundred metres inland. Other features 

common to most Redware sites are that they are on or very near a sandy 

beach; that midden deposits are shallow, generally less than 10 cm; that middens 

are surrounded by a wide “halo” of small potsherds; and that the sites are 

close to a supply of fresh water. 

The choice of village locations at or near sea level contrasts with the later 

White Marl people’s preference for hilltops. Although many White 

Marl–type middens are also shallow, the major sites contain deposits 2 m or 

more thick, indicative of either long or repeated periods of occupation. The 

shallow depth of midden accumulation points to a relatively short term of 

activity at every Redware site. 

The maximum midden thickness personally observed is about 25 cm. In 

the majority of cases, modern cultivation by small farmers has disturbed practically 

the entire stratum of original midden material. The hot, dry climate of 

the Alligator Pond–Black River area (St Elizabeth) obviously appealed to the 

Redware people, for along this 40-km belt are eight of eleven occupation sites. 

Rainfall of 35 to 50 cm annually is poorly distributed seasonally and, consequently, 

the area does not produce food crops readily – cassava being the one 

exception able to withstand the long droughts. A few vegetables will mature 


only if planted at exactly the correct time in relation to the infrequent rains. 

When considering the relatively brief sojourn of these people in Jamaica, 

one wonders what made them leave their former homeland in the first place? 

Were they lured away by curiosity to explore new islands? Or did they flee 

from some danger? Were they chased? Then, having reached Jamaica, why 

were they here for such a short time? Did they, perhaps, send scouts ahead to 

some other location and then pack up to go off to a new and better area? 

There is no evidence to show that this happened, so perhaps our Redware 

people were themselves an exploratory group checking out Jamaica on behalf 

of others who decided not to follow. Or is the answer simply that a severe hurricane 

demolished their coastal villages and crippled the colony so badly it 

never recovered? This could be the reason for the halos of potsherds scattered 

inland from the seaside middens, but such scattering could as easily have 

occurred at any time since the sites were last occupied. 

Ceramics 

De Wolf ’s description of the Redware pottery is still the most concise: 

. . . curvatures of the surface; simplicity of decoration; ware, medium fine 

grained but poorly fired; colour, reds, tans and greys; average thickness 0.5 cm; 

shape, open bowls with some flat bottoms; shoulder, straight or incurving; rim, 

tapered to the lip; lip, rounded or flat; D-shaped handles, amorphous and tab 

lugs; some painting and rubbing of restricted area. (1953, 233) 

The graceful, sleek appearance and other characteristics as detailed above by 

De Wolf and by Howard (1956) compare most closely to late Cuevas and to 

earliest Ostiones of Puerto Rico. Paradoxically, the handsome, artistic 

Redware pre-dates the rough but sturdy White Marl pottery. The first 

impression, when viewing the two types, is that the more crudely worked 

White Marl ought to be the older, with the smooth, shapely, red-painted vessels 

following as a final stage of evolution, but this is a wrong conception. In 

all probability, the two peoples did not co-exist in Jamaica, as the 250-year difference 

in the radiocarbon dates of their artefacts seems far longer than the 

time span necessary to produce the very shallow midden deposits. 

Painting 

Judging from the relative numbers of sherds with and without the diagnostic 

red slip, probably fewer than 20 per cent of all pottery objects had this type of 

finish, which was restricted to the exterior of the bowl above the line where 

the line turns under to form the bottom. Handles are always included in the 

J AMAICAN R EDWARE 

155

painted zone. Bowls with zoomorphic handles are almost always painted, 

while only the smallest of those with loop or “D” handles are. 

One possible example of a black-painted handle has been found, and 

another specimen contains what appears to be white pigment imbedded in the 

incision of a design. 

Red-painted sherds were generally poorly fired, resulting in black cores and 

such brittleness that the majority of fragments are only a few centimetres in 

size. On the other hand, vessels with “D” handles were fired usually to a uniform 

tan colour and were relatively stronger, as reflected in the much greater 

size of sherds. 

Thickness and Temper 

The vessels range from 3 to 8 mm in thickness, and the average is between 4 

and 5 mm. Generally the bottom is thicker than the sides, and there is commonly 

a gentle taper toward the rounded rim. The most common temper is a 

sandy grit, apparently obtained locally from dark beach sand, and identified by 

black magnetic grains of ilmenite and magnetite. 

Cassava griddles vary from 1 or 2 cm thick in central parts to over 4 cm at 

the rims (Figure 11.2). 

E-4 M-4 E-4 E-4 

E-4 M-4 E-4 

M-4 

E-5 

M-4 

Figure 11.2 Burén rim profiles 


Handles 

Handles may be classified in the following 

groups: “D”, loop, zoomorphic, geometric 

and amorphous tabs or lugs. 

end view 

“D” handles (Figure 11.3) are the most 

common. Their flat straps range from 1 to 

3.6 cm in width and from 0.5 to 1 cm in 

thickness. Ratios of width to thickness average 

3.5 but vary from 2 to 8. This group can 

be subdivided into several types: Types I, II 

and III have a simple strap whose upper end 

melds smoothly into the rim of the vessel, 

and Types Ia and IIIa have bowl rims distinctly 

higher than the top of the “D”. Type 

I straps have lower ends or bases which form 

a continuous graceful sweep into the side of 

the bowl. In Type II, the strap bases flare out 

end view 

to join the body of the bowl in a symmetrical 

pair of lifting lugs. Type III handles have 

flared bases like Type II and, in addition, have a spur or tab fixed to the strap 

itself. These three main and two subsidiary types are illustrated in Figures 11.3 

to 11.6. 

Only one complete specimen is known of a horizontal loop handle (Figure 

11.6). The strip making the loop has an oval cross-section, 0.75 H 1.0 cm, and 

the space between the vessel wall and the loop is about 0.3 H 1.5 cm. This handle 

and the area above it (towards the rim) are red-painted, the loop being 

affixed at the line where the side of the 

bowl turns under. One end of the loop 

has three short horizontal incisions. A 

second example, also painted and 

incised, is lacking one end of the loop. 

Zoomorphic handles were almost 

always used for red-painted vessels, and 

the handles themselves were also 

painted. The favourite motif was the 

turtle, with head and foreflippers at one 

end of the bowl and a tail and hindflippers 

at the opposite end. Incision 

was used to create the impression of 

scales, particularly on the flippers. 

end view 

plan view 

cross-section 

through handles 

Figure 11.3 Type I 

handles – plain 

“D” handles 

section 

through 

handles 

Figure 11.4 Type II handles – similar to Type I but with flared 

base to strap 


157

end view 

Type 1A: plain D handle, top below bowl rim 

Type 3A: top of handle below bowl rim 

Painted areas 

Type 4: horizontal loop 

Figure 11.5 Type III handles – similar to Types I and 

II but with flared base and tabular spur 

Figure 11.6 Other handle variations 

Other recognizable forms depicted in Redware handles are heads of crocodiles, 

snakes, birds (parrot, duck) and various fish. Often the artist accentuated 

the eyes, mouth, gills and fins by incised lines. 

The geometric class includes cylindrical to flattened oval knobs and miniatures 

of the bow or stern of canoes. There are indentations to produce crescentic 

ridges and slightly raised V-shaped patterns, which merge over into the 

amorphous tabs and lugs. 

Miscellaneous Features of Pottery 

Piercing at or just above the handle is fairly common, the holes being typically 

2 to 3 mm in diameter. Some vessels had feet, and one of these has an incised 

pattern on its sole. One vessel has a circular incision on the inside wall directly 

over the foot. In addition to its chief use for zoomorphic features, incision 

occasionally forms abstract designs such as concentric triangles or polygons. 

Unexplained single or doubles lines occur on some sherds. 

The author’s collection contains two examples of spouts, both bluntly conical, 

slightly curved and with inside diameters of 5 mm at the tips. The interior 

of the spout of one is funnel-shaped with walls 1 cm thick. The other 

spout is solid except for the constant-diameter 5-mm hole. 


Two more or less spheroidal pottery beads have been found in Redware 

sites – 1 cm and 2 cm in size – each pierced by a hole 2 mm in diameter. The 

larger one may possibly be a spindle whorl. 

Other Artefacts 

Polished petaloid greenstone celts or broken pieces of them have been found 

in several sites. Brother Michael excavated one 23 cm long in 1966 at Long 

Acre Point (E-6). A perfect specimen 5.5 cm long was collected at Alligator 

Pond (E-5) by the author, and three fragments were found by his daughter at 

the E-4 and M-4 sites. 

Two off-white chalcedony beads from the E-5 site are cylindrical, about 1 

cm in each dimension, and pierced longitudinally by holes 2.5 mm in diameter. 

An elliptical bead of milky agate found at M-4 is also pierced longitudinally. 

Two small pendants, or perhaps beads, from Calabash Bay (E-11) were 

made from a distinctive coarsely crystalline white metamorphic rock with 

occasional speckles of a jet-black mineral strongly resembling a rock used in 

the extreme southeastern Caribbean for the manufacture of similar small 

ornamental trinkets. Such rock is unknown in Jamaica, so there must have 

been trade or travel to transport these two pieces to our island. Likewise, a 

small figurine or zemí of white quartzite found at Great Pedro (E-4) is made 

from a type of rock that does not occur in Jamaica. Pieces of white and greyflaked 

flint abound but only rarely do any show evidence of wear. Some may 

have been scrapers, knives or awls,while others are obviously cores from which 

useful flakes were struck. All have a heavy whitish patina. 

Three specimens of Oliva reticularis with spire truncated and outer lip 

pierced were probably once part of either an anklet or wristlet to be shaken 

during dances. Other possible shell artefacts include cores of various Strombus, 

which may have been used as crude gouges, and portions of outer lips that 

resemble spoons or ladles. Thick conch lip fragments may have been intended 

as clubs. No conch celts, ceramic zemís or large polished stone pendants have 

been found yet on Redware sites. 

Food 

The presence of griddle fragments indicates that cassava was cultivated. Based 

only on casual examination of midden material, it appears that about a dozen 

varieties of shellfish provided the bulk of the protein consumed. These are 

Strombus pugilis, S. raninus, S. gigas, Melongena melongena, Arcopagia fausta, 

Anadara brasiliana, A. chemmitzi, A. ovalis, Arca imbricate, A. zebra and Donax 

denticulatus. 


159

Burials 

No midden burials have been found yet, but two caves are known to have had 

human bones in close association with Redware potsherds, suggesting that 

secondary burial in caves was practised at least to a limited degree. There is no 

evidence that Redware people were responsible for any of the Jamaican petroglyphs 

or pictographs. 

Conclusion 

Having recognized that this early Arawak culture is so different from the later 

White Marl period, we should identify topics for future study that will enable 

us to clarify parts of the overall picture that are today still hazy. We should, for 

instance, obtain more radiocarbon dates to reinforce the single date we now 

have and to determine the span of occupation by checking ages for several 

sites. There is no published report of a systematic excavation of a Jamaican 

Redware site. 

Limestone areas surrounding the south-coast Redware sites could be 

explored for burial caves to see whether the practice of secondary burial was 

rare or common. Most important, there should be exchange of information 

among the researchers of the Greater Antilles to establish migration routes 

and comparisons of this culture in its several locations. 


12 

Taíno Ceramics from 

Post-Contact Jamaica 

R OBYN 

P. W OODWARD 

THE EXPANDING ECONOMIES of renaissance Europe created a 

demand for luxury goods, especially spices to make food edible, and precious 

metals. The objective of the fifteenth- and early sixteenth-century voyages of 

reconnaissance, sponsored first by the Portuguese Crown and later by the 

other western European powers, was not discovery for its own sake but rather 

the opening of oceanic routes to the rich markets of the east: India, China and 

Japan. The heroic accomplishments of these early explorers, however, obscure 

the true effects of European colonialism on local ecologies and the cultural 

structures and practices of indigenous people. These effects occurred as a consequence 

of the sustained contact between the Old World and New which 

began on 12 October 1492 – the day Christopher Columbus arrived in the 

Caribbean. 

The discovery of gold, and the Spanish need for labour to exploit this 

resource, dominated the initial Caribbean phase of the conquest. Consideration 

of settlement and structured colonization were subordinate to the desire 

of amassing a quick profit from the labours of Indian slaves (Hennessy 1993, 

9). The comparative dearth of archival records for this initial phase of 

Hispanic–Indian contact in the Caribbean means that the material culture – 

of both Europeans and Indians – recovered from archaeological excavations 

is essential to enable our understanding of cultural adaptation, state formation 

and dissolution, labour arrangements, race, class and gender – all of which 

shaped this period of momentous historical change (Paynter 2000, 170). The 

analysis of the aboriginal ceramics and faunal remains from the fortress at the 

Spanish town site of Sevilla la Nueva in Jamaica provides an understanding of 

how some of these processes worked to shape the colonial society of a primarily 

agricultural settlement during the first decades of the sixteenth century 

(Figure 12.1). 

161

Figure 12.1 Map of St Ann’s Bay, Jamaica 

A major part of the initial Spanish colonial enterprise was concerned with 

the organization and exploitation of mineral and human resources of the 

Greater Antilles. The strategies and policies that were developed to achieve 

these objectives not only had a profound impact on the peoples of the 

Caribbean but ultimately shaped Spanish attitudes and colonial institutions, 

which were subsequently implemented throughout their empire (Deagan 

1988, 188). No single institution was to have a more profound impact than 

that of the encomienda, a policy of forced labour, in which the Crown granted 

certain Spanish settlers a restricted set of property rights over a specified number 

of local Indians for use as labourers for mining, construction, transportation 

and, later, farming. The Spanish were entitled to extract tribute from their 

Indian labourers in the form of goods, precious metals or direct labour services 

in exchange for “protection” and instruction in the Catholic religion and 

civilization (Yeager 1990, 843). These entitlements could not be sold or 

rented, nor could they be inherited past a second generation or relocated from 

the geographical area in which they were originally granted (ibid.). When and 

wherever peaceful relations existed between the two groups, the organization 


and distribution of native labour was effected through the caciques – native 

chiefs (Deagan 1988, 198). Resistance to these forced labour arrangements 

was frequent, resulting in outright enslavement or massacres of whole villages 

(Rouse 1992, 154). The absence of young males and females from the 

villages disrupted the traditional social hierarchy and lifeways of the various 

indigenous peoples, and this, combined with exposure to European disease, 

caused a precipitous decline in the indigenous population, first on the island 

of Hispaniola and later throughout the region. The need for additional slaves 

to mine gold on Hispaniola was the major impetus for the exploratory expeditions 

to Cuba, Puerto Rico, Florida and Central America. 

Spanish Settlement in Jamaica 

The history of Jamaica and of the first Spanish settlement on the island, 

Sevilla la Nueva, is elaborately entwined with that of Christopher Columbus 

and his heirs (Woodward 1988, 9). He discovered the north coast of the island 

on his second voyage to the New World. Entering the present-day St Ann’s 

Bay, which he named Santa Gloria, on 5 May 1494, the admiral declared that 

the island was the “fairest that eyes had beheld, mountainous and heavily populated” 

(Morison 1974, 126). In 1503, nearing the end of his fourth and final 

voyage to the Caribbean, Columbus was forced to return to this bay and 

remained there for more than a year due to the waterlogged condition of his 

two remaining ships. Columbus returned to Spain in late 1504 and died 

within a year. 

In 1508, Diego Colon, Columbus’s eldest son, was appointed governor of 

the Indies. In an effort to forestall any further erosion of his family’s claims 

in the New World, he charged Juan de Esquivel with the responsibility of 

colonizing Jamaica. Esquivel had been on Hispaniola for some years and was 

a battle-hardened lieutenant of Nicolás de Ovando, the former governor of the 

Indies and Diego Colon’s immediate predecessor (Rouse 1992). Esquivel 

landed on the island in 1510 with eighty settlers and established the settlement 

of Sevilla la Nueva, in the bay of Santa Gloria, which was known to have both 

a sheltered harbour and a large, peaceful Indian populace (Cotter 1970, 15). 

Shortly after their arrival in 1509, the Spanish discovered that Jamaica 

lacked the rich alluvial gold resources of Hispaniola. The Crown encouraged 

the settlers to turn their efforts to raising food crops and European livestock 

to support other expeditions to Central and South America (Wright 1921, 

71). Columbus and Peter Martyr (the first Abbot of Jamaica, albeit he actually 

never visited the island) wrote extensively about Jamaica’s fertile soil, large 

native population and finely fashioned canoes (Sauer 1966, 179). However, 

reports of the brutal atrocities carried out by Esquivel and his men against 

TAÍNO C ERAMICS FROM P OST-CONTACT J AMAICA 

163

ebellious Taíno Indians resulted in the appointment of Francisco de Garay as 

Esquivel’s replacement in 1513. 

Garay did not arrive on the island from Spain until May 1515, bringing 

with him skilled farmers and livestock for the two estates that he was to own 

in partnership with King Ferdinand. The period of Garay’s governorship 

appears to have been a relatively prosperous one for Jamaica. There was a 

steady build-up of Spanish settlers, agricultural resources and livestock, the 

establishment of a second town and the development of sugar estates and 

two mills owned by the governor himself (Wright 1921, 76). Garay left the 

island with a number of the island’s Spanish residents in June 1523 to lead an 

expedition of conquest in Northern New Spain (Cundall and Pietersz 1919, 

6). The subsequent discovery of the rich mineral resources of Central and 

South America, given the depletion of human and mineral resources in the 

Antilles, diverted the attention of the Spanish Crown away from the 

Caribbean. 

By 1524 the fortunes of Jamaica had entered a period of drastic decline, 

and in 1528 the king’s estates were dissolved, with the livestock and land 

divided among the remaining residents (Wright 1921). Sevilla la Nueva was 

abandoned in 1534 when the island’s administrative centre moved to Ville de 

la Vega, on the south coast, near the sugar estate of Pedro de Mazuelo, the 

island’s treasurer. 

The driving force behind the early colonial economy in the sixteenth-century 

Caribbean was aboriginal labour; without it, the Spanish could not have 

mined the alluvial gold beds, established agricultural estates or built towns. 

Many contemporary historians believe that Jamaica, like many other islands 

of the region, was exploited for its human resources, and this, combined with 

disease, resulted in the virtual extinction of the indigenous Taíno Indians by 

1520 (Sauer 1966, 181). A closer examination of archival records for Jamaica, 

however, details Indian slaves at work on the abbey in Sevilla la Nueva in 

1526. In 1533 there were two censuses of Indians, slaves and cattle, and as late 

as 1597 authorities were discussing how to settle the remaining Indians 

(Cundall and Pietersz 1919, 7–8, 20). The archaeological record from Sevilla 

la Nueva supports these archival sources, in that it appears that the local Taíno 

Indians were present at the site throughout its short occupation. 

Archaeological Investigation of Sevilla la Nueva 

The fortress at Sevilla la Nueva (Figure 12.2) was excavated by Charles Cotter 

between 1953 and 1964. It yielded a large collection of carved limestone 

blocks, Spanish bricks, tiles, ceramic vessels, beads, Taíno ceramics and mixed 

faunal materials. The structure had substantial stone and brick foundations, 


Figure 12.2 

Distribution of New 

Seville and Taíno 

ceramics 

brick floors, and a brick-lined cellar and vaulted cistern. Horizontal spatial 

control was maintained during this investigation, but because of the relatively 

short occupancy of the town and the fact that this land was used only 

for agriculture in later historical times, Cotter did not document temporal distinctions. 

Upon his death, Cotter’s unpublished collection of artefacts and 

field notes were left to the Institute of Jamaica, and I subsequently studied 

them as part of my research for my master’s thesis. It should be noted that this 

fortress was investigated by Dr Lorenzo López y Sebastián between 1981 and 

1986, but materials recovered during this later project have not been published 

or made available for study. 

Taíno Ceramics 

Ceramics manufactured by the local indigenous people were the most common 

ceramic type in the assemblage from the fortress area. Based on the documented 

material discovered by Cotter, 63.3 per cent of the vessel-form 

ceramics from the fortress were Taíno, and 1.3 per cent of the total was New 

Seville ware, a locally manufactured Hispanic–Taíno Indian colonoware. 

Spanish tin-glazed majolica tableware accounts for just 6.7 per cent of the 

total, and Spanish lead-glazed and unglazed storage- and tableware make up 


165

A 

B 

Figure 12.3 Meillac 

ware: (a) boat-shaped 

vessel; (b) round bowl 

the remaining 28.7 per cent of the assemblage (Woodward 1988, 50). The 

intrusive European ceramics from the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth 

centuries that Cotter collected from across the whole lower estate were not 

factored into this analysis. 

The Casimiroid peoples began human occupation of the West Indies 

around 4000 BC (Rouse 1992, 51). The first settlers of Jamaica were the 

Ostionoids, who expanded south and west through the island of Hispaniola 

and across the Jamaica Channel to the south coast of Jamaica by AD 650 

(Atkinson 2003, 1). The Meillacan Ostionoids, who would evolve into the 

Western Taínos of Jamaica and parts of Cuba, were present in Jamaica by 

880 BC (Rouse 1992, 96). The White Marl style of the Meillacan subseries of 

pottery is characteristic of all Meillacan and Western Taíno sites in Jamaica, 

and St Ann’s Bay in particular (ibid., 52). This ware is characterized by coilconstructed 

vessels, the coils being set and then shaped by an anvil-and-paddle 

technique rather than by scraping (Howard 1950, 140). The pottery varies 

in colour from brick-red through dull brown and even black. A dull polish was 

applied to the exterior surfaces of most vessels. Temper was not normally 

added to the clays; the sand or marl particles that are in evidence appear to 

have been part of the original clay. The paste of the Taíno sherds found in 

Cotter’s collection from the fortress conforms to this tradition. 

The shapes of the White Marl–style vessels are limited to thin-walled 

(averaging 8 mm) carinated boat-shaped or round bowls (ibid., 141). Both 

these bowl forms have symmetrically rounded 

bottoms and frequently have distinctive shoulders 

(Figure 12.3). Regardless of whether 

the bowls have a shoulder or not, the sides 

of these vessels invariably curve inward 

towards the rim so that the opening of the 

bowl is smaller than the greatest diameter of 

the vessel (ibid., 138). 

0 5 

cm 

0 5 

cm 

The rims of the White Marl–style vessels 

are predominantly rounded or slightly rectangular 

in shape (Figure 12.4a–e). The 

second variant is a filleted rim, which has a 

strip or thin fillet of clay applied along the 

exterior edge (Figure 12.4f–h) or, less frequently, 

along the interior edge (Figure 12.4i). 

Decorated rims are rare, but when they are 

encountered, they are more elaborate than on contemporaneous 

vessels from elsewhere in the Caribbean. 

Decorative devices include incised designs (Figure 12.5a), cross- 


hatching (Figure 12.5c), and closely spaced parallel 

incisions placed along the top edge of the rim to 

create a serrated effect (Figure 12.5b, d). The collection 

also contains one example of a thicker, more 

massive decorated rim, characteristic of the variant 

Montego Bay style (Howard 1950, 144–45). It has 

incised oblique parallel lines running down from 

the rim to the shoulder. Finally, there is one sherd 

that has a perforation between the appliquéd shoulder 

ridges below the rim (Figure 12.5f ). This perforation 

appears to be utilitarian in nature, permitting 

the bowl to be suspended (ibid., 151). 

Excavations at other Taíno sites on Jamaica have 

demonstrated that although plain rounded rims are 

always present in greater numbers, there is a tendency 

in the later levels towards an increase in the 

number of filleted rims ( James W. Lee, personal 

communication, 1984). Of the rims from Sevilla la 

Nueva, 56.14 per cent are plain, 36.84 per cent are 

filleted and 7.02 per cent are decorated (Woodward 

1988, 103). Based on this collection of Taíno 

ceramics excavated by Cotter from the fortress, 

there is no evidence that the indigenous ceramic 

style went through a phase of simplification in form 

or degradation of quality, as has been documented 

at contact-period colonial sites in Cuba, Haiti and 

Nueva Cadiz (Willis 1976, 143; Deagan 1983, 

295). 

The Cotter collection includes three round, 

plain-rimmed bowls, two of which have distinct 

shoulders and polished exteriors. These bowls (the 

largest of which is illustrated in Figure 12.3b) have 

diameters of 16.5 cm, 23 cm and 32 cm. The bottom 

of the smallest bowl has been blackened from 

use over a fire. The large fragment belonging to a 

boat-shaped bowl (Figure 12.3a) has a filleted rim 

and an upraised prow at the remaining end. The 

incised wedge knobs on either side of this prow are 

its only form of decoration. The presence of smoke 

patches on the lower regions of this bowl indicates 

that it was also used for cooking. 

Figure 12.4 Rim profiles 

a 

f 

c 

j 

a 

c 

Figure 12.5 Decorated rim sherds 

g 

0 5 

cm 

e 

b 

d 

b 

h 

d 

0 5 

cm 

e 

i 


167

Figure 12.6 Spouted bowl 

early 

middle 

terminal 0 5 

cm 

Figure 12.7 Taíno water bottle 

cm 

The collection contains one round, singlespouted 

inhaling bowl (Figure 12.6) that is a unique 

example of this vessel form in Jamaica (Lee, personal 

communication, 1984). It is generally 

accepted that the spout would have acted as an 

inhaling device and that these bowls were used in 

the ritual inhaling of cohobas, hallucinogenic powders 

(Kaye, 1999, 59). Taíno ritual paraphernalia is 

commonly decorated with anthropomorphic or 

zoomorphic imagery, and in the inverted position 

this small bowl resembles a turtle. Turtles feature 

prominently in the creation myths of the Taíno 

(ibid., 65). Other ceremonial Taíno artefacts such as 

zemís (statuettes), duhos (ceremonial chairs) and 

vomitive spatulas are commonly found in ritual settings, 

such as cave burials, where access is controlled 

and limited to those of high social standing in the 

community. Inhaling bowls, however, have most 

frequently been found in domestic midden burials, 

perhaps demonstrating a wider participation in ritual 

activity than previously believed (ibid., 61). 

Figure 12.7 depicts the well-defined neck and 

spout of a Taíno water bottle found at the Spanish 

fortress. Although no precise chronological 

sequence has been developed for these bottles, it is 

thought that the neck and spout became more 

pronounced during this terminal period (Lee, personal 

communication, 1984). Water bottles were 

typically well fired on the outside, but due to their 

small aperture, their interior surfaces were poorly 

finished. 

Sixteen fragments of Taíno cassava griddles, or 

buréns, were present in the assemblage. These are 

flat, circular platters, 30 to 60 cm in diameter, made 

of very coarse tempered earthenware. These clay 

platters are typically suspended on rocks above a 

fire. The Jamaican buréns usually have a smooth 

upper surface that at times may have been burnished, 

and a rough, heavily pitted underside. The 

griddle fragments ranged from 12.2 to 22.5 cm in 

thickness. Owing to the fact that these thick buréns 


were fired at a low temperature, they are frequently friable (Lee, personal 

communication, 1984). The single griddle-rim sherd has a slightly upturned 

or bevelled outer edge, which is a common feature of Jamaican buréns. 

The Spanish called cassava “the bread of the Indies”, and these buréns have 

been reported from all Taíno sites in the Caribbean, attesting to the universal 

use of cassava as a dietary staple in the region (Lee 1980a, 1). As wheat did 

not grow well on the Caribbean islands and shipments of grain from Spain 

were sporadic, cassava bread was somewhat reluctantly adopted into the 

Spanish diet early in the conquest period (Faerron 1985, 2). Not only was cassava 

readily available, it also had the advantage over traditional grain-based 

breads of being able to be stored for months without spoiling (Lee 1980a, 2). 

Cotter’s notes indicate that the majority of the Taíno ceramics were found 

in the area of the cellar and on the floor in the northern end of Room 2 in 

the Spanish fortress. There was a second major concentration of this material 

around the well and in the two refuse dumps north of the fortress (see Figure 

12.2). Obviously these vessels played an integral role in food preparation by 

the Spanish inhabitants, and the presence of cassava buréns further suggests 

the adoption by the Spanish of some of the aboriginal subsistence traditions. 

New Seville Ware 

From the time Esquivel arrived in Jamaica in 1509, 

the Spanish, under the policy of the encomienda, had 

a large aboriginal work force under their command. 

While locally produced Taíno ceramics were widely 

used by the Spanish for cookware, it is evident from 

the presence of a unique style of colonoware in the 

Cotter collection that native potters were also being 

organized to work at craft production in this colony. 

Thirty-two sherds and seven vessels can be identified 

as belonging to a category of pottery now designated 

as “New Seville ware”. The presence of this 

style of syncretic Hispanic–Indian ware demonstrates 

a degree of cultural adaptation at the domestic 

level that has only been found at a few 

sixteenth-century Spanish contact sites, and never 

in this form. Hispanic–Indian colonoware was 

found at Concepción de la Vega on Hispaniola. 

That pottery, however, exhibits characteristics of the 

ceramics of the South American Arawaks as 

opposed to those of the Western Taíno (Deagan 

c 

b 

a 

0 5 

cm 

Figure 12.8 New Seville ware bowls 


169

0 5 

cm 

Figure 12.9 New Seville ware: (a) pitcher; 

(b) pedestal cup 

a 

0 5 

cm 

Figure 12.10 New Seville ware (a) cup; (b) spout; 

(c) jug 

c 

a 

b 

b 

1988, 210). Archaeologists have suggested that the 

presence of this colonoware in Hispaniola represents 

the importation of non-Taíno Indians as 

slaves. Various examples of colonoware have also 

been found at a number of Western Taíno sites in 

Cuba (most notably Yalal) as well as a few Taíno 

sites on Hispaniola (ibid., 204). Colonowares were 

also encountered in late-sixteenth-century deposits 

at St Augustine, Florida (Deagan 1978, 33). 

The vast majority of the New Seville ware sherds 

have sandy, pale brown to yellowish-brown paste. 

Like the Taíno ceramics, these pottery vessels are 

constructed of hand-formed coils, in contrast to the 

wheel-thrown tradition of European ceramics. 

Included in this group are six base sherds from 

small bowls that either have a triangular wedge 

pushed onto the rounded base as a crudely formed 

ring-foot (Figure 12.8a) or show clearly where this 

wedge has been sheared off. Figure 12.8b depicts 

the most complete example of these bowls. It has a 

diameter of 11 cm, and two others have a diameter 

of 16 cm. These bowls are similar in size to the 

Columbia Plain majolica escudillas found at the site 

and invariably served as substitutes for this form of 

Spanish tableware. There are also two rims/shoulder 

fragments of small open-mouthed jars or pitchers. 

One of these fragments is the neck and round 

shoulder of a jug (Figure 12.9a). Finally, there are 

eighteen fragments of small round handles, a device 

not used on any White Marl–style vessel. 

Two examples of New Seville ware in the Cotter 

collection are complete vessels: a small jug and a 

pedestal cup. The coil-constructed pedestal cup 

(Figures 12.9b, 12.12) appears to have the same 

paste as the majority of the Taíno sherds in the collection: 

dark brown to black, with a dull polish on 

the exterior surface. The interior is more highly polished 

than the exterior, and the cup has a solid 

ribbed pedestal and base. 

The handmade jug (Figures 12.10c, 12.11) has 

the same paste as the cup, and finger indentations 


Figure 12.11 New Seville ware: jug 

Figure 12.12 New Seville pedestal cup 

are clearly visible on the interior of this 6-mm-thick vessel. The handle is not 

completely round but is similar in shape and thickness to the other handle 

fragments of New Seville ware mentioned above. The base of the jug has a flat 

outer rim and a slightly concave centre. Both these vessels were found in 

Room 1 of the fortress and were obviously used as Spanish tableware (Cotter 

n.d., 39). 

The other two New Seville ware vessels in this collection were a small cup 

decorated with parallel, incised lines around the rim (Figure 12.10a), and a 

spout from an unknown type of vessel (Figure 12.10b). The decoration of 

both these vessels is consistent with the decorated rims of White Marl style 

bowls; their European forms, however, indicate that they were locally crafted 

copies of Spanish wares. 

Faunal Remains 

Faunal evidence from the fortress at Sevilla la Nueva indicates that European 

domestic animals account for 95 per cent of the biomass. Pig was the most 

commonly occurring species, accounting for 33 per cent of the total biomass, 

while local marine fish and molluscs accounted for just 3 per cent. Nearly 

half of the mammalian bones from the site belonged to medium- to largesized 

animals that were unidentifiable but are believed to be pig (McEwan 

1982). 

As was first observed at St Augustine, Florida, and subsequently at many 

other sixteenth-century Spanish-contact sites in the Caribbean, Spanish settlers 

preferred and attempted to maintain Iberian lifeways, especially in the 

more visible areas such as tableware, diet, ornamentation and architecture 


171

(Deagan 1983; Ewan 1991; McEwan 1995). Those households with the highest 

socioeconomic status were expected to have greater access to scarce 

imported goods. The reliance of the inhabitants of the fortress at Sevilla la 

Nueva on imported domestic mammals would therefore be expected. The faunal 

assemblage is highly fragmented, and very few bones exhibit any sign of 

being charred, suggesting that the meat was boiled rather than roasted. 

Traditional Iberian food-preparation techniques emphasized boiling versus 

roasting (McEwan 1982, 6), and pork dishes were preferred by the upper 

classes (ibid.). The faunal assemblage of the Cotter collection conforms to the 

pattern of upper-class Iberian food preferences. The almost total absence of 

fish in the diet of the fortress inhabitants could also be predicted, as fish was 

the common food of the lower-status Spanish peasants and the indigenous 

peoples of the region. 

Discussion 

The Spanish settlers at Sevilla la Nueva, as elsewhere in the Caribbean, held 

the dominant political position over the local Indian inhabitants and controlled 

them through the auspices of the hierarchical structure of the local 

Amerindian societies. Within the Spanish contingent there were also social 

distinctions: the conquistadors and high government officials of the Crown 

formed the upper social class and held the economic power, while the rest of 

the settlers, who were tradesmen and commoners, tended to be less exclusivist 

and were normally in more direct contact with the non-Hispanic people. 

These commoners tended toward more exchange and racial mixing with the 

local Amerindian population and also were the social class most influenced by 

the process of acculturation with the Indians (Esteva-Fabregat 1995, 19). 

Acculturation: is a phenomenon resulting from the addition to an already existent 

cultural system of one or various elements of another, or other systems. 

These additions appear in the form of isolated traits or of complexes that, upon 

joining the system, modify the ingredients of social action and thus the cultural 

system without necessarily transforming its political or social structure. 

(ibid., 5) 

In the early decades of the sixteenth century, the majority of Spanish 

immigrants were young, unmarried men from the lower ranks of the nobility 

or from the working class, seeking fortunes to better their social positions at 

home (Pérez-Mallaína 1998, 35). As only 6 per cent of the Spanish immigrants 

were women, unions between Spanish men and Indian women were 

common (Hennessy 1993, 17). The church naturally encouraged formal marriages, 

especially unions with either female caciques (local chiefs) or the daugh- 


ters of the caciques. These politically motivated unions were thought to ensure 

the cooperation and even subservience of the local Indians. However, multiple 

unions of an informal, polygynous nature, between Spanish men of every 

social class and Indian women, were more frequently the case in the early 

decades of the conquest (Esteva-Fabregat 1995, 34). Whereas family migration 

was common among English settlers along the eastern seaboard of North 

America in the seventeenth century, the widespread incorporation of 

Amerindian women into domestic unions with Spanish settlers gave rise to a 

distinct “Spanish Colonial pattern” that is reflected in the archaeological 

remains of all contact-period sites (Deagan 1983; McEwan 1995). 

By the second decade of the sixteenth century, Santo Domingo, on the 

southeast end of the island of Hispaniola, was the main port of call for supply 

ships from Spain. Since the prevailing trade winds in the Caribbean come 

from the southeast, Jamaica is downwind of Hispaniola. As the island lacked 

lucrative mineral resources, there was little reason for trading vessels to visit 

the island unless they were already bound for the Central American coast or 

were in need of foodstuffs. With the exception of European domestic animals 

(which were raised on the island in great numbers) and a small quantity of 

Iberian ceramics, Cotter did not recover any glassware, candleholders, clothing 

and sewing accessories, personal items, weapons, hooks or ornaments 

during his excavation of the fortress. This seems to support the premise that 

this isolated colony on the Spanish frontier not only was less well supplied 

with European merchandise than other contact-period sites such as Nueva 

Cadiz, Puerto Real or even the later settlement of St Augustine (Woodward 

1988, 113; McEwan 1995, 216–17), but also had few Hispanic women. As 

such, the upper-class inhabitants of the fortress at Sevilla la Nueva were 

forced to adapt more fully to their new environment than those residing 

closer to the major colonial centres on Hispaniola or even to the rich pearlfishing 

colony of Nueva Cadiz, off the coast of Venezuela (McEwan 1995; 

Willis 1976). 

Conclusion 

The high social standing of the inhabitants of the fortress at Sevilla la Nueva 

is reflected in their diet and in the presence of majolica tableware and elaborate 

architectural ornamentation. The presence of aboriginal ceramics and 

the evidence of some aboriginal food-preparation techniques indicate that 

local Taíno women were employed in daily domestic activities. It appears 

that both the remoteness of this colony and the lack of Spanish women forced 

even the highest-status Hispanic settlers to engage in some degree of cultural 

mixing. 


173


Lack of access to Iberian tableware and drinking vessels caused the residents 

of Sevilla la Nueva to organize a craft industry to produce locally manufactured 

equivalents. In so doing, the Spanish settlers resisted the outright 

adoption of aboriginal vessel forms in the visible arena of dining, in an attempt 

to maintain their traditional Iberian cultural norms. 

Despite the predominance of European domestic animals in the diet of the 

fortress’s residents, the presence of cassava buréns suggests that the inhabitants 

also adopted cassava bread as a substitute for their grain-based breads. 

The degree to which the lower-class Spanish settlers at Sevilla la Nueva 

were able to maintain their traditional lifeways has yet to be determined, as no 

other residential features have been identified or investigated. Based on the 

archaeological evidence from St Augustine and Puerto Real, one might expect 

to see varying patterns of acculturation based on social status (McEwan 

1995). 

Examining the Cotter collection material from the perspective of the Taíno 

women, one could suggest that the lack of Spanish domestic materials at 

Sevilla la Nueva enabled them to maintain a small degree of cultural autonomy 

within a totally Hispanic setting. Archaeological evidence demonstrates 

that they used their traditional cooking wares to prepare food, even if they 

were forced to adopt some Hispanic food-preparation techniques, such as 

boiling rather than roasting meats. While Spanish materials have shown up in 

surface collections at White Marl, the large Taíno site on the south coast of 

Jamaica, the degree to which the indigenous population of St Ann’s Bay incorporated 

Hispanic food or materials into their traditional lifeways during the 

first decades of contact has yet to be determined (Goggin 1968, 36). Likewise, 

it has been noted that the degradation of local ceramic traditions is not immediately 

apparent from the materials found in the domestic assemblage of the 

Spanish fortress. The effects of the Spanish colonization on the indigenous 

social structures, farming techniques and craft industries will truly be determined 

only through controlled excavations of the several Taíno sites on the 

hills surrounding the site of Sevilla la Nueva. 

As at all other Spanish colonial sites in the Caribbean, the Spanish colonial 

pattern is evident at Sevilla la Nueva; however, the diversity in cultural patterning 

and the degree to which any individual or culture is forced to integrate 

were clearly influenced by the processes of economic and political domination, 

the degree of remoteness of specific colonies, race, social status and gender. 

The examination of Taíno ceramics and faunal materials from the fortress at 

Sevilla la Nueva demonstrates that even in the narrow domestic arena, a variety 

of cultural syncretisms evolved in response to the differing economic and 

natural environment of frontier communities, as well as social spheres of the 

individual inhabitants.

Section 4 

Taíno Art Forms 

ART IS A CRITICAL and continual aspect of the human experience. Art, regardless 

of chronology and geographic locale, has been used to express thoughts, 

emotions, beliefs and events. It can be religious, functional, aesthetic or documentary. 

Ramón Dacal Moure and Manuel Rivero de la Calle, in Art and 

Archaeology of Pre-Columbian Cuba (1996), categorize the art of the Taíno into 

idolillos, wooden idols, figurines, duhos and cave art. Caves were used by the 

Taínos as shrines, burial sites, temporary shelters, water sources and rock art 

sites. Since the eighteenth century, caves in Jamaica have provided invaluable 

evidence of Taíno culture and art forms. 

Cave art can be broken down into two main categories: mobiliary art and 

cave art proper. In Jamaica, there is evidence of both categories. Mobiliary art 

consists of small objects found inside caves; examples include the wooden 

zemís found in Carpenter’s Mountain, Manchester (1799), and Aboukir, St 

Ann (1992). 

Cave art proper consists of petroglyphs – carvings – and pictographs – 

paintings – found inside caves. Petroglyphs can be located on almost every 

Caribbean island, in both the Greater and the Lesser Antilles (Bullen 1974). 

In Jamaica, the earliest known petroglyph site was the Dryland Cave, St 

Mary, from 1820. This site is now known as One Bubby Susan, found in 

Woodside, St Mary. The Mountain River Cave, St Catherine, is the earliest 

known pictograph site, discovered in 1896 (Duerden 1897). 

The two chapters in this section discuss the Taíno art forms found in 

Jamaica. James W. Lee’s paper “The Petroglyphs of Jamaica” was published 

in 1990. It highlights the discovery of cave art sites before 1952 and sites discovered 

between 1952 and 1985. Lee discusses the motifs of the petroglyphs 

and pictographs, and identifies a spatial relationship between cave art sites and 

occupation sites. Lee identified twenty-four cave art sites; since then an addi- 

175

tional eleven sites have been discovered. The highest concentration of cave art 

sites in Jamaica is found in the southern parishes of Clarendon, St Elizabeth, 

St Catherine and Manchester. 

Ethnographic data reveal that Jamaican Taínos are renowned for several 

things – cotton, cassava bread, celts and, most important, wooden idols. After 

he assessed the three wooden sculptures from Carpenter’s Mountain in 1792, 

William Faggs said: 

It is remarkable, since rather few figures in wood have been found in the 

Americas, that this one tribe, the Arawak, has produced so many works of 

supreme sculptural merit, fit to be compared with the best tribal works of the 

other continents, and, so far as the surviving works allow us to judge, probably 

the finest works of wood sculpture produced in the Americas before or since 

Columbus. (National Gallery of Jamaica 1992, 4) 

Cave art sites in Jamaica are not as common as burial caves, and wooden 

zemís found in caves are considered rare treasures. Nicholas Saunders and 

Dorrick Gray, in their chapter “Zemís, Trees and Symbolic Landscapes: Three 

Taíno Carvings from Jamaica”, discuss the most important Taíno find in 

Jamaica since the eighteenth century – the Aboukir zemís recovered in 1992. 

The Aboukir finds include a ceremonial staff, a bird figure and a small ceremonial 

ladle or spoon, which are now housed in the National Gallery of 

Jamaica. 

Saunders and Gray re-examine the place of wooden zemís in Taíno religion. 

They highlight the importance of the zemís, the selection of the wood 

used in their creation and the Taíno perception of the natural world. The 

authors then demonstrate similarities between the Taíno view of the natural 

world and that of the lowland Amazon societies. 

Since the discovery of the Aboukir zemís, a wooden duho has been recovered 

from the Hellshire Hills, St Catherine. This duho, dated AD 1000–1170, 

is currently housed in the National Gallery of Jamaica. Thus an estimated 

thirteen wooden objects have been obtained from Jamaican caves, located in 

the parishes of Manchester, St Thomas, St Ann and St Catherine. 


13 

The Petroglyphs 

of Jamaica 

J AMES 

W. LEE 

TWENTY-FOUR PETROGLYPH and pictograph sites have been 

mapped in Jamaica, and reports of several others remain to be verified. All 

occur in limestone terrain and have been worked in soft dripstone of rock 

shelters or cave entrances. By far the most common motif is a simple oval face, 

incised by a continuous line and three circular depressions to represent eyes 

and mouth. Three-dimensional figures on stalagmites or pillars are rare. 

Distribution of sites suggests a spatial relationship to the White Marl 

(later) phase of Arawak settlement, and this is corroborated by ceramics associated 

with cave burials at or near several of the petroglyphs. All sites are particularly 

susceptible to vandalism, and only Mountain River Cave has so far 

been provided with permanent protection and placed in the care of the 

Jamaica National Trust Commission. 

History of Site Reports 

Early Period 

Four petroglyph sites were known in Jamaica before the beginning of the 

twentieth century (Duerden 1897). By 1952, three of these locations had been 

“lost” to the scientific community as a result of inadequate descriptions in the 

early reports and subsequent lack of public interest. The lone exception was 

Pantrepant, Trelawny, owned until recently by Mr Frank Roxburgh, whose 

wife was the sister of the well-known amateur archaeologist Captain Charles 

Cotter. Cotter’s frequent visits to his sister and brother-in-law allowed him 

Originally published in 1990, in Proceedings of the Eleventh International Congress for 

Caribbean Archaeology, Puerto Rico, 1985: 153–61. 

177

Figure 13.1 Map of 

cave art sites 

to check the original Pantrepant East site from time to time and led to his discovery 

of the second group of carvings on the west side of the same property. 

These two sites, fortunately, have suffered minimal wear and tear compared 

with the damage to other petroglyphs by vandals, who chop and hack for no 

reason at all. 

The other three sites described by Duerden are at Dryland, St Mary, 

known from about 1820, though not then officially reported; Kempshot, St 

James, seen by the property owner, Mr Maxwell Hall, from about 1872 but 

not recognized as aboriginal until the mid-1890s; and the Mountain River 

Cave, discovered shortly before the publication of Duerden’s article in the 

Journal of the Institute of Jamaica. 

Second Period 

During the years 1897–1939, four more petroglyph sites were observed 

(Sherlock 1939). These comprise caves at Coventry, St Ann, reported by Miss 

Lily Perkins in 1913; Windsor, Trelawny, found by H.D. LaCaille in 1925; 

Byndloss Mountain, St Catherine, discovered by Archibald Campbell in 

1931; and the Canoe Valley petroglyph cluster, first noted in 1916 by Martin 

and MacCormack. 

Recent Period 

No new petroglyph sites were identified in literature published between 1939 

and 1967, but since the formation of the Archaeological Society of Jamaica, 

reports by its members have confirmed a further fifteen sites. In addition, all 


previously described petroglyphs except LaCaille’s Windsor site have been relocated. 

Data for these sites are tabulated below in Table 13.1. 

General Description of Sites 

Brief descriptions of Jamaican petroglyphs are included in articles published 

by Duerden (1897, 48) and Lee (1974, 2). These writers stated that Jamaican 

petroglyphs are executed in limestone, a tertiary age rock that forms the western 

two-thirds of the island. Many, if not most, of the carvings are incised in 

the soft dripstone deposits coating the walls of caves or rock shelters or on 

pulpits, pillars, stalactites or stalagmites of the same material. Few petroglyphs 

are actually inside caves but rather are found at cave entrances or on the surface 

of massive blocks of limestone broken from sinkhole or cave walls. 

The most common motif by far is the human face, portrayed by simple 

oval-shaped lines 1 to 2 cm wide, incised to a depth generally less than 1 cm 

(Figures 13.2a, c, d). Three shallow circular or oval depressions represent eyes 

and mouth. Variations on this basic theme include elongate-oval or straightline 

incisions for the mouth (Figure 13.2b), lines running from the eyes as 

Table 13.1 New Petroglyph/Pictograph Sites, 1952–1985 

Site Parish Reference Date Reporter* 

Spot Valley ( JC-7) St James 1970 David Fletcher 70/4 

Worthy Park No. 1 (SC-6) St Catherine 1963 Marjorie Sweeting 70/4 

Two Sisters Cave (SC-7) St Catherine 1968 Alan Teulon 88/1 

Worthy Park No. 2 (SC-10) St Catherine 1973 George Clarke 73/1 

Milk River (CC-1) Clarendon 1964 R.E. Anderson 

Jackson Bay Cave (CC-2) Clarendon 1953 C.B. Lewis 

East of Jackson Bay Cave (CC-6) Clarendon 1968 R.L. Vanderwal 68/2 

God’s Well (CC-10) Clarendon 1969 J.W. Lee 69/1 

Little Miller’s Bay (CC-18) Clarendon 1970 C.B. Lewis 

Cuckold Point (MC-5) Manchester 1968 Mrs Lee Hart 68/3 

Gut River (MC-6) Manchester 1969 J.W. Lee 69/1 

Duff House (EC-11) St Elizabeth 1980 Wendy A. Lee 80/1 

Warminister (EC-15) St Elizabeth 1969 J.W. Lee 80/1 

Red Bank (EC-16) St Elizabeth 1969 J.W. Lee 69/1 

Reynold Bent (EC-19) St Elizabeth 1970 J.W. Lee 70/1 

Negril (WC-2) Westmoreland 1969 E.S. Harvey 67/3 

*Numbers refer to Archaeology Jamaica newsletters. 

T HE P ETROGLYPHS OF J AMAICA 

179

a 

b 

e 

Figure 13.2 Petroglyphs from Coventry and 

Cuckold Point 

c 

d 

AC-1 

Coventry, St Ann 

MC-5 

Cuckold 

Point, 

Manchester 

tears, one or more “haloes” above the head (Figures 

13.3b, 13.4a), raising the eyeballs in high relief 

within the depression (Figure 13.3c), and steeply 

slanted, narrow incisions for the eyes (Figure 

13.4d). 

Pillars or other vertical cave formations are often 

adapted to create a three-dimensional appearance 

for the carvings. Abstract or geometric patterns also 

occur but rarely. 

Table 13.2 (see appendix) gives details of petroglyph 

locations and their proximity to known occupation 

sites. Figure 13.1 shows petroglyphs in 

relation to the principal Arawak settlements. Apart 

from WC-2, AC-1 and YC-1, which are relatively 

isolated from either settlements or other petroglyphs, 

the remaining occurrences comprise a central 

cluster of four in St Catherine; a south-coast 

group of thirteen, ranging from St Catherine to St 

Elizabeth; and another group of four in St James 

and Trelawny. The very dry south-coast climate 

may be responsible for the better survival of petro- 

a 

EC-19 

Reynold Bent Cave, 

St Elizabeth 

a 

d 

c 

CC-10 

Vicinity God’s Well, 

Clarendon 

b 

MC-6 

c 

b 

CC-1 

Milk River, Clarendon 

Figure 13.3 Petroglyphs from Gut River No. 1 

Figure 13.4 Petroglyphs from Reynold Bent, Milk 

River and near God’s Well 


glyphs in that belt, as the geologic processes of solution and re-deposition of 

limestone are less active. The wetter north-coast zone probably has lost some 

aboriginal sculptures in limestone because of either more rapid solution by 

rainwater or faster build-up of the dripstone, which tends to mask earlier features. 

In exceptional circumstances, such objects as modern Coca-Cola bottles 

have become completely imbedded in travertine precipitated from dripping or 

splashing water over a period of fifteen to twenty years. 

Details of Sites 

The twenty-four sites mapped by the author include several where only one 

glyph was observed or where only one carving 

had originally been reported and was no 

longer visible, as a result of either defacing or 

removal. Examples of these are Dryland, 

Byndloss Mountain, Two Sisters Cave, 

Cuckold Point, Red Bank, Reynold Bent and 

Negril. Others boast one principal carving 

and a few smaller or less well-executed efforts 

that may be so widely spaced as to give the 

impression of single glyphs. In this category 

are the sites at Coventry Cave, Pantrepant 

East, Little Miller’s Bay, Gut River No. 1 and 

Duff House. Finally, there are locations 

where the petroglyphs occur in clusters. Until 

1970, by far the best example of Jamaican 

petroglyphs was the group at Canoe Valley 

(Figures 13.5 and 13.6). But several misguided people, who claimed afterward 

Figure 13.5 

Petroglyphs at 

Canoe Valley 

Figure 13.6 

Petroglyphs at 

Canoe Valley 


181


that they believed construction work for a new road would shortly demolish 

the site, and who attempted to “save” the petroglyphs by sawing them from 

the outcrop, succeeded in almost totally destroying this once prime site. Not 

one of the “saved” pieces has had the good fortune to find its way into the 

Institute of Jamaica’s Museum. 

The Canoe Valley site is only a few metres away from the road between 

Alligator Pond and Milk River, near Mile Post 48. It formerly had about 

thirty petroglyphs. Perhaps two-thirds of these were the basic oval face outline 

enclosing eye and mouth depressions. Others were loops and curves that 

may have been incomplete drawing or may have represented some concept 

that we cannot understand. Haloes appear on several heads, and one even has 

its face line completely encircled by another, outer line. The largest are barely 

life-size, and the smaller ones start at about 7 cm in width. All are carved 

into several steeply sloping to vertical limestone surfaces at the base of a precipitous 

ridge forming part of the south edge of the Manchester Plateau. 

At the nearby occupation sites, White Marl–style pottery (AD 900–1500) 

suggests that the artists were Arawaks of the later period. 

Other “cluster”-type sites are simple, smooth circular or oval depressions. 

Rarely, the artist produces an annular depression with a raised centre, like an 

eyeball in its socket. Gut River No. 1 (see Figure 13.3c) and the Two Sisters 

Cave are examples. The sloping, narrow eye shape, similar to the mask motifs 

on pottery handles, occurs in several sites – Warminister, God’s Well and 

Worthy Park No. 1. Tear lines streaming from the eyes are discernible in one 

of the Canoe Valley carvings and at Cuckold Point. 

Two figures portray the nose quite distinctly at the Two Sisters Cave and 

at Worthy Park No. 1, but all the others accentuate only eyes and mouth. 

Perhaps the haloes represent hair or headdresses, features that are often 

included as part of face-handles decorating Jamaican bowls. But whereas the 

potters occasionally showed ears on faces, the petroglyph sculptors never did. 

The petroglyph at Cuckold Point differs from the normal style in that the 

outline of the face is almost rectangular, the eye depressions are disproportionately 

smaller and more close-set than usual and the mouth is accentuated by 

lines that may represent large teeth. There is always the possibility that it 

may be a fake, but the sculpting appears to be at the very least fifty to one hundred 

years old, and at that time there was virtually no human traffic in that 

area because of the difficulty in traversing the honeycomb limestone through 

nearly impenetrable thornbush and cactus. Moreover, in the same sinkhole, a 

few metres from the petroglyph, there is a freshwater pool, and around it 

were numerous sherds of White Marl–style earthenware water bottles, presumably 

broken while transporting water for the village at M-5, about 400 m 

away.

Another carving that is unique is the principal one at Little Miller’s Bay. 

It is carved into waist-high stalagmite in a small, low cave with a wide mouth, 

within 50 m of the rocky coast forming the west side of Old Harbour Bay. 

This glyph has bolding eyes, which have small, round central depressions. The 

face has a forehead, eyes and flattish nose. The absence of a mouth suggests 

that the nose might be a beak and the whole figure might be intended as an 

owl. 

The few abstract designs seem to be purely whimsical, and repetition of any 

pattern has not been recognized. 

Pictographs 

Aboriginal paintings have been observed at three sites in Jamaica – Mountain 

River Cave and Worthy Park in St Catherine and Spot Valley in St James. At 

the first two sites, petroglyphs and sparse 

White Marl–style earthenware potsherds 

corroborate an Arawak origin for both 

types of primitive art. At Spot Valley, the 

paintings (Figure 13.7), partly obscured by 

dirt, dust or smoke, are on one wall of a 

small cave whose single chamber measures 

about 8 m by 12 m and contains evidence 

a 

of Arawak burials in the floor, White 

Marl–style potsherds and human skeletal 

material. 

The Mountain River site was first mentioned 

by Duerden (1897) and again when 

the title for the two-acre parcel of land was 

handed over to the Jamaica National Trust 

Commission by the Archaeological Society 

(Lee 1982; Morbán Laucer 1982). The 

c 

cave, which is really a limestone rock shelter, 

is situated in rugged terrain near 

Guanaboa Valley. The paintings are black silhouette figures applied to the 

ceiling of the shelter, whose 5-m by 15-m area is now secured behind metal 

grillwork and protected by National Trust monument guards. 

The artist’s emphasis was on birds, turtles, lizards, fishes, frogs and 

humans. There are also some abstract patterns whose significance has not 

been deciphered. With so many of the paintings dealing with food sources 

and consumers, it seems likely that the “cave” was used for religious purposes 

intended to ensure successful hunts. Morbán Laucer sees some of the figures 

b 

Figure 13.7 

Pictographs at 

Spot Valley 


183

as participants in the cohoba rite of smoking tobacco, whereas the bird masks 

of these same figures suggest that they may be catching food birds by a 

method similar to the one described in the text accompanying Tommaso 

Porcacchi’s 1576 map of Jamaica (said to have been taken verbatim from 

Gonzalez Fernando de Oviedo’s Historia General y Natural de las Indias 

[1519]). We are fortunate that this excellent group of paintings has been preserved 

from further damage, as it is without doubt the best example of its kind 

in Jamaica, if not the entire Caribbean. 

Associated Ceramics 

For many years, there was uncertainty as to whether the petroglyphs were the 

work of the earlier Redware or the later White Marl Indians. It now seems 

fairly clear that both the rock carvings and the rock painting were produced 

in the White Marl period. We have the close association of petroglyphs, pictographs 

and pottery at Mountain River Cave and Worthy Park and the burial 

and painting site at Spot Valley. In addition, there are three instances where 

White Marl potsherds occur within a few metres of petroglyphs: at Jackson 

Bay Cave, Cuckold Point and Duff House. Finally, the Pantrepant East petroglyphs 

are located a mere 200 m from a small village site (T-7) whose middens 

contain Montego Bay–substyle potsherds. I recently illustrated one 

adorno handle (Lee 1983b). 

Conclusion 

We may be reasonably sure that the majority of Jamaica petroglyphs belong to 

the later period of Arawak occupation, inasmuch as all pottery so far found 

closely associated with these rock carvings is in the White Marl style. The 

spatial distribution of petroglyph sites also supports this view. Of the twentyfour 

locations listed in Table 13.2, thirteen are much farther from the coast 

than any known Redware site, and White Marl–type villages are the nearest 

occupation sites in every case. 


Appendix 

Table 13.2 Jamaican Petroglyph Sites by Parish 

Parish Site Elevation 

(m) 

Island Grid 

Coordinates 

(ft) 

Nearest 

Occupation 

Site 

Distance 

(km) 

St James Kempshot ( JC-1)* 503 547,100 N Upper Retirement ( J-17) 3.05 

248,800 E 

Spot Valley ( JC-7) 290 576,250 N Spot Valley ( J-15) 1.22 

279,800 E 

Trelawny Pantrepant West (TC-1) 91 536,600 N Pantrepant (T-7) 1.49 

308,450 E 

Pantrepant East (TC-2) 91 535,950 N Pantrepant (T-7) 0.20 

313,900 E 

Windsor-LaCaille (TC-5)† 

St Ann Coventry (AC-1) 427 528,000 N Friendship (A-22) 3.14 

513,300 E 

St Mary Dryland (YC-1) 390 489,900 N Nonsuch (T-15) 5.58 

572,950 E 

St Catherine Mountain River Cave (SC-1) 290 422,800 N Dover (S-2) 6.64 

522,150 E 

Byndloss Mountain (SC-2)* 198 455,150 N Mt. Rosser (S-3) 4.33 

522,850 E 

Worthy Park #1 (SC-6) 381 447,100 N Oakes (C-15) 8.66 

494,100 E 

Two Sisters Cave (SC-7) 15 357,000 N Salt Pond (S-11) 5.00 

489,000 E 

Worthy Park #2 (SC-10) 457 458,500 N E Mt. Rosser (S-3) 9.45 

489,000 E 

Clarendon Milk River (CC-1) 8 3 44,300 N Round Hill (C-1) 2.41 

421,150 E 

Jackson Bay (CC-2)* 8 302,350 N Harmony Hall (C-7) 3.26 

472,650 E 

East of Jackson Bay (CC-6) 30 303,200 N Harmony Hall (C-7) 3.05 

471,850 E 


185

Table 13.2 Jamaican Petroglyph Sites by Parish (cont’d) 

Parish Site Elevation 

(m) 

Island Grid 

Coordinates 

(ft) 

Nearest 

Occupation 

Site 

Distance 

(km) 

Clarendon God’s Well (CC-10) 23 351,250 N Round Hill–NW Ridge (C-11) 0.76 

(Cont’d) 

414,000 E 

Little Miller’s Bay (CC-18) 8 303,000 N Holmes Bay (C-5) 1.52 

505,950 E 

Manchester Canoe Valley (MC-1)* 8 351,050 N Bossue (M-10) 3.44 

393,950 E 

Cuckold Point (MC-5) 8 342,650 N Cuckold Point (M-5) 0.37 

370,000 E 

Gut River (MC-6) 8 349,200 N Bossue (M-10) 5.27 

388,150 E 

Gut River #4 (MC-9)† 

St Elizabeth Duff House (EC-11) 114 360,150 N Rowe’s Corner (M-3) 1.01 

350,900 E 

Warminister (EC-15) 229 378,200 N Bull Savannah (E-7) 8.11 

350,900 E Montpelier (M-9) 

Red Bank (EC-16)* 373 376,550 N Yardley Chase (E-9) 7.99 

329,850 E 

Reynold Bent (EC-19)* 267 376,550 N Yardley Chase E-9) 8.41 

329,850 E Montpelier (M-9) 

Norman Bernard (EC-20)† 

Eric McPherson (EC-21)† 

Westmoreland Negril (WC-2)* 30 500,300 N Negril (W-4) 0.64 

81,500 E 

*Seriously defaced, erased or removed. 

†Location or coordinates unknown. 

186

14 

Zemís, Trees and Symbolic 

Landscapes: Three Taíno 

Carvings from Jamaica 

N ICHOLAS 

and 

S AUNDERS 

D ORRICK 

G RAY 

IN 1495, DURING his second voyage to the Caribbean, 

Christopher Columbus was one of a handful of Europeans to observe a religious 

rite of the indigenous Taíno (Arawak) inhabitants of Hispaniola 

(Bourne 1906, 171–72; Columbus 1969, 192). Central to this ritual was the 

role of wooden “idols”, zemís, which the Taíno appeared to worship, and which 

the Spanish regarded as evidence of pagan idolatry (Columbus 1969, 154). 

Wooden image-zemís have been found throughout the Greater Antilles, 

notably in the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba (Fewkes 1907, 197–202; 

Lovén 1935, 598–602). 

In 1792, three figures carved of a dark, polished wood were discovered in a 

cave in the Carpenter’s Mountain in southern Jamaica (Anon. 1803, 1896; 

Joyce 1907, 402–7; Lester 1958). In 1992, three further wooden objects came 

to light, said to have been discovered in a cave in north-central Jamaica 

(Aarons 1994; Weintraub 1993). 

This new discovery, a major find of Taíno wooden carvings, is the most 

important in Jamaica for two hundred years. 1 In studying these new images, 

we realized that they afforded an opportunity to re-examine the place of 

wooden zemís in Taíno religion, rather than simply “fit” the pieces into the 

accepted hierarchy of putative Taíno deities – which themselves are imperfectly 

known from a fragmentary and often ambiguous ethnohistorical record; 

they had a more complex symbolic importance. Here we consider these new 

discoveries as well as the generality of wooden zemís from the perspective of 

their material – wood, the trees from which the wood came and the concep- 

Originally published in Antiquity 70, no. 270 (1996): 801–12. 

187

tual association of the objects with the animated landscape of the Taíno world 

view. 

The New Discoveries 

Figure 14.1 

Anthropomorphic 

figure from Aboukir 

(detail), possibly representing 

the Taíno 

deity Baibrama. Note 

traces of white around 

face and mouth and 

eye sockets, which 

probably originally 

held inlay. 

Figure 14.2 

Anthropomorphic 

figure from Aboukir. 

Figure is 168.4 cm 

high, 28 cm maximum 

width. ( JNHT 

[Archaeology 

Division], recorded 

29.9.1992. Illustration 

by T. Lindsay.) 

In June 1992, the Jamaica National Heritage Trust heard that three Taíno 

wooden images had been discovered near the small village of Aboukir in the 

northern central highlands. The images, apparently discovered originally during 

the 1940s in a nearby cave, had subsequently been returned. They 

allegedly remained in the cave until 1972, when they were once again 

removed, this time by a Mr Clayton, and kept in his house for twenty years. 

These events, and the circumstances which led to the images finally coming 

to the attention of the Jamaica National Heritage Trust, appear to have been 

associated with obeah, Jamaican voodoo (Abrahams and Szwed 1983; Schuler 

1979). The three objects, acquired by the Jamaica National Heritage Trust in 

September 1992, are currently (1994) on display in the National Gallery in 

Kingston. Each object is of a different type – an anthropomorphic figure, a 

bird and a small “utilitarian” spoon-like object with an anthropomorphic handle. 

On the basis of photographs, Arrom and Rouse (1992), seeing the aged 

and cracked appearance of the wood, judged them authentic. 

The anthropomorphic figure (Figures 14.1 and 14.2) is 168.4 cm high with 

a maximum width of 26 cm. The form of the bent legs suggests the presence 

of ligatures – a practice well known 

among the Taíno in general, and 

documented for the Jamaica Taíno 

by Columbus (1969, 196). It has 

prominent male genitals and thin 

arms with hands reclining on the 

chest. Arrom and Rouse (1992) consider 

these features characteristics of 

Taíno representations of Baibrama, 

the deity identified with the cultivation 

and consumption of cassava 

(Arrom 1989, 68–73), and not to be 

confused with Yúcahu, the supreme 

Taíno deity, whose name means 

“spirit of cassava” (ibid., 17–20). The 

eye sockets, ears and mouth probably 

originally held inlay, possibly 

shell, but conceivably gold or guanine, 

a copper-gold alloy. 


According to Arrom and Rouse (1992), the projection at the top of the figure 

may have supported a table or “canopy” (see below), and the pole upon 

which the figure is perched may have served as a support, replacing the circular 

base upon which such figures normally stand. Aarons (1994, 17) regards 

this figure, more speculatively, as the ceremonial “staff of office” of a paramount 

cacique (chief ). According to Lewis (1994, 1), the colour and texture of 

the wood, as well as the presence of insect boreholes and possibly trunk 

thorns, strongly suggests the Ceiba or silk cotton tree (Ceiba pentandra). 

The bird figure (Figures 14.3 and 14.4) is 61 cm high with a maximum 

width of 28 cm. Thought by Arrom and Rouse (1992) to represent an aquatic 

species, possibly a pelican, it recalls a similar avian image in the British 

Museum (Figure 14.5) ( Joyce 1907, 406, plate L1, Figure 2; Rouse 1992, 117, 

Figure 29f ). However, a comparison of the two images shows possibly significant 

differences in style, structure and type of wood. Arrom and Rouse (1992) 

also note that the circular table or “canopy” protecting the back of the bird 

image is associated with the cohoba ceremony (see below). On the basis of 

colour and grain pattern, Lewis (1994, I) identifies three kinds of wood from 

which this figure might have been made – West Indian mahogany (Swietenia 

Figure 14.3 Bird figure 

from Aboukir (frontal 

view), with circular table, 

possibly used for snuffing 

hallucinogenic cohoba 

powder 

Figure 14.4 Bird figure from Aboukir. 

Height is 61 cm, maximum width 28 cm. 

( JNHT [Archaeology Division], recorded 

1.10.1992. Illustration by B. Callum.) 

Figure 14.5 Carved wooden zemí 

of a bird standing on the back of 

a turtle or tortoise, probably from 

Jamaica. Note eye socket for 

inlay, and damaged column upon 

which originally was a circular 

table, probably for cohoba snuffing. 

The figure is 66.5 cm high. 

(Reproduced by permission of 

the British Museum.) 

Z EMÍS,TREES AND S YMBOLIC L ANDSCAPES:THREE TAÍNO C ARVINGS FROM J AMAICA 

189

Figure 14.6 Small 

ladle/spoon with 

anthropomorphic 

handle, from 

Aboukir. Note high 

polish and eye and 

mouth sockets, 

which originally 

had inlay. 

mahogoni), West Indian cedar (Cedrela odorata) and Santa Maria (Calophylum 

calaba). 

The third and smallest object (Figures 14.6 and 14.7) appears to be half of 

a container used for ritual purposes (Arrom and Rouse 1992) – possibly a ladle 

or spoon. It is 15.9 cm high with a maximum width of 7.7 cm. The handle is 

in the shape of a “human” head, and the eyes, mouth and possibly ears may 

originally have been inlaid. Arrom and Rouse (1992), considering that the 

minimal details preclude an exact identification, tentatively suggest that it 

might be Maquetaurie Guayaba, the Taíno Lord of the Underworld (Arrom 

1989, 54–55). Again on the basis of wood colour and grain, Lewis (1994, II) 

identified this object as being made probably from either Hibiscus tiliaceus or 

H. elatus. 

Figure 14.7 Small 

ladle/spoon with 

anthropomorphic 

handle, from Aboukir. 

Height is 15.9 cm, 

maximum width is 

7.7 cm. ( JNHT 

[Archaeology 

Division], recorded 

1.10.1992. Illustration 

by B. Callum.) 


The Context of Sacredness 

Taíno wooden zemís, like any sacred object, exist within social and spatial contexts 

– overlapping spheres of symbolic and ritual activity. What conferred 

their sacredness was a combination of form, material, production process, use 

and the ascription of specific cultural values to each of these. It is these values 

that we wish to explore, as they exemplify the way in which the Taíno conceptualized 

and classified their phenomenological universe, and situated themselves 

within it. 

The shape of the Taíno world view reveals a distinctively Caribbean 

Amerindian way of creating and maintaining what Kus (1983, 278) has called 

a “meaningful universe”. The spiritual significance of wooden zemís, native 

fauna and flora and the meteorological phenomena which enveloped them is 

a product of the architecture of Taíno symbolic reasoning and religious 

thought. The ethnographic, ethnohistorical and archaeological evidence show 

that the Taíno view of the natural world had much in common with those of 

lowland Amazon societies – particularly in recognizing as animate aspects of 

the physical world which Western science classifies as inanimate (for example, 

Eliade 1974, 47–48; Hallowell 1969, 54; Lévi-Strauss 1969, 184–85; Ruggles 

and Saunders 1993, 1–31). The richness of Amazonian ethnography, compared 

with Caribbean ethnohistory, is such that it can throw light on Taíno 

beliefs and broaden the scope of investigation into the nature of wooden zemís 

(and see Roe 1995). 

Zemís and the Taíno Spirit World 

The Taíno, like other Amerindian peoples of Central and South America, 

viewed the world as animated by spiritual forces and articulated by myth 

(Alegría 1986; López-Baralt 1985). Spirits resided in every feature of nature. 

The propitiation and manipulation of these omnipresent, powerful but 

ambivalent spirits made social life possible. In this sense, the Taíno world view 

was fundamentally shamanic; ethnohistorical sources show that shamans were 

active in their society, particularly in curing (D’Anghera 1970, 172–73; Lovén 

1935, 575–78; Rouse 1948, 537–38). 

While the Taíno shared characteristic traits of lowland Amazonian 

shamanism, one feature appears unique – the practice of zemí worship. 

According to Lovén (1935, 583), the origins of “zemíism” lay in ancestor worship, 

and Fewkes (1907, 54) finds the term zemí applied by the Taíno to anything 

that possessed “magic power”. 

Although zemís have been recognized as formal deities – such as Yúcahu, 


191

Figure 14.8 Carved 

wooden duho stool, 

Dominican Republic. 

Note high polish, 

gold inlays on face 

and shoulders and 

engraved decoration. 

Figure is 22.2 cm 

high, 43.4 cm long. 

(Reproduced by permission 

of the British 

Museum.) 

the supreme god (Arrom 1989, 17–30; Rouse 1992, 13, 118), and Atabey, his 

mother, goddess of human fertility (Arrom 1989, 31–36; Rouse 1992, 13) – 

they have also been regarded as spiritual forces residing in trees, rocks, caves 

and other features of the landscape. Apart from wooden images, the term zemí 

has been applied to artefacts of different forms and sizes made from stone, 

shell, pottery, cotton and human bones (Fewkes 1907, 53–54; Lovén 1935, 

585–86, 591, 597 620; Rouse 1992, 13; Vega 1987). 

Clearly, zemí is a widely used but analytically imprecise term. This is due 

partly to the relative poverty and ambiguity of the ethnohistorical record, and 

partly to the favoured ascription of the term to one kind of artefact – the distinctive 

“three-pointed stone” (for example, Fewkes 1907, 111–33; Lovén 

1935, 638–43). This imprecision, and the corresponding practice of labelling 

many disparate items as zemís, may obscure meaningful Taíno discrimination 

between gods, spirits, ancestors, forces resident within the landscape, and the 

kinds of material (in this case varieties of wood) from which zemís were made. 

While zemís could have been perceived as ubiquitous links between the natural 

and supernatural worlds (Stevens-Arroyo 1988, 59), it is unclear to what 

extent any hierarchy of sacredness or spiritual power existed, although some 

zemís were more esteemed than others (ibid., 62). For the Taíno, zemí was 

spirit, not object. 

The “social life” of zemís also is problematical. In Amazonia it was shamans 

who possessed toolkits of magical 

objects, including wooden images, to 

contact the spirit world (for example, 

Reichel-Dolmatoff 1961, 1975, 46). 

Among the Taíno, it appears, every person 

possessed at least one zemí, with 

some individuals owning possibly as 

many as ten (Rouse 1948, 535; 1992, 

13). It is probable that owning certain 

types or categories of zemís was a privilege 

of the caciques (Columbus 1969, 192), a view inferred by Rouse (1948, 536), 

with reference to the chiefs’ depending for their power and status on the superiority 

of their zemís. 

Supporting this view is the fact that representations of zemís (as spirits or 

“gods”) occur as decoration on religious paraphernalia, including the elite duho 

stools (Figure 14.8) (Rouse 1992, 121). Another possibility is that an older 

tradition of lineage-based zemí ancestor images was developing into a situation 

where caciques were vying for status through the manipulation of their 

zemís – a case perhaps of incipient stratification, which may, in turn, have been 

leading to the appearance of formal deities. 


Kept in niches or on tables within the dwellings, and sometimes in separate 

structures (Lovén 1935, 598), zemís could be inherited, traded, given away 

or even stolen (Rouse 1992, 13). The possible pre-eminence of wooden zemís 

over other kinds is suggested by references to a category of hollow “speaking 

zemís” which appeared to have had an oracular function. They were regarded 

by the Spanish as a method of hoodwinking the gullible by ventriloquy, with 

a shaman speaking through a tube (Bourne 1906, 312; Lovén 1935, 599–600). 

If wooden zemís were the most spiritually important, it is possible that some 

stone zemís imitated wooden originals (Lovén 1935, 603; Stevens-Arroyo 

1988, 58). 

As Wilson (1990, 88) notes, zemís were less a symbol of a cacique’s power 

than his supernatural allies, to be venerated, respected and consulted. The role 

of the manipulation of wooden image-zemís in articulating shaman links 

between the physical world and the spirit realm is seen in the important cohoba 

ceremony. 

By sniffing the hallucinogenic cohoba powder, 2 Taíno caciques and shamans 

(bohitu) communed with the spirit world (Bourne 1906, 327; D’Anghera 

1970, 174) – particularly, it appears, with ancestor spirits resident within trees 

and wooden zemís, an association suggested by the arboreal nature of cohoba. 

It was snuffed through polished wood or cane tubes (Kerchache 1994, 85) 

from a round wooden table, an integral part of the class of wooden zemí figure 

(for example, Joyce 1907, 403; Lovén 1935, 599) to which the bird image 

from Jamaica belongs. 3 Most suggestive in this report is the description by Las 

Casas (Arrom 1989, 106) of a cacique taking cohoba while sitting on an elaborately 

carved wooden duho stool. It was the cohoba ceremony that Columbus 

observed in 1495 (1969, 192): 

In these houses are highly carved tables, round in shape like a chopping table, 

on which lies a special powder, which they place on the heads of their cemis 

with certain rites. They then sniff up this powder through a double-branched 

cane, which they place in their nostrils. This powder intoxicates them . . . 

Trees and the Supernatural 

Wooden zemís, cohoba and trees associate the physical and supernatural worlds 

of the Taíno in ways which are deeply rooted in wider Amerindian as well as 

specifically lowland Amazonian traditions of mythic thought (for example, 

Heyden 1993). For Amazonian societies, trees possess a complex, multilayered 

cosmological symbolism that links origin myths (for example, Métraux 1946, 

369), the bestowal of cultural identity (for example, Descola 1994, 19) and 

ideas of shamanic access to the spirit world (for example, Karsten 1964, 


193

198–204; Roe 1982, 118–19; Sullivan 1988, 60–61). The Amazonian 

Baranana, for example, believe that the paxiuba palm (Iriartea exorrihiza) has 

grown from the ashes of the culture hero’s body and carried his soul heavenwards 

as it grew, thus becoming a mediator between earth and sky (Hugh- 

Jones 1979, 157–58). The Brazilian Kuikuru believe that trees were once 

people, in mythic time (Carneiro 1978, 214). 

Analogous ideas are found among the Taíno of Hispaniola, of whom 

D’Anghera (1970, 168) records an origin myth in which men who failed to 

return to their caves before sunrise were turned into “myrobolane” trees. 4 The 

same author says that some zemís were made of wood “because it is amongst 

the trees and in the darkness of the night they have received the message of 

the gods” (1970, 173). For lowland South American Amerindians as for the 

Taíno, the depths of the forest were sacred zones, spatially distant from the 

“socialized” fields and village, and home to the largest trees; they were the 

places where spirits revealed themselves to humans. 

According to Lovén (1935, 586–87), the Taíno of Hispaniola made wooden 

zemís only from trees occupied by the spirits of a dead cacique. Once carved, 

and no longer confined within the tree, the image-zemí was believed to be able 

to move about. In nineteenth-century Jamaica, Afro-Caribbean peoples 

believed that Ceiba trees assembled together at night (Rashford 1985, 51, and 

see below). These Caribbean beliefs parallel similar ones from northeastern 

South America concerning trees that move around at night (Roth 1887). 

The way in which trees and wooden zemís articulate within the Taíno 

world view can be seen in an extraordinary quotation from Dr Chanca, 

Columbus’s physician during his second voyage (Pané 1974, 41–42). 

When a native was passing by a tree which was moved more than others by 

the wind, the Indian in fear calls out, “Who are you?” The tree responds, “Call 

where a behique or priest and I will tell you who I am.” When the priest or 

shaman had come to the tree . . . he performed certain prescribed ceremonies. 

. . . He would ask the tree, “What are you doing here? What do you wish of me? 

. . . Tell me if you wish me to cut you down and . . . whether I shall make you a 

house and a farm and perform ceremonies for a year.” The tree answered these 

questions, and the man cut it down and made of it a statue or idol. 

Here the tree advertises its presence by being moved by the wind more than 

other trees – interestingly, a structural characteristic of the Ceiba (Descola 

1994, 50). Is there a symbolic association between the animating wind, 

Amazonian ideas of the shaman’s magical blowing powers (Butt 1956; Hugh- 

Jones 1979, 90–93) and – more specific to the Caribbean – the dangerous hurricanes, 

which were deified by the Taíno as Guabancex, the “Lady of the 

Winds” (Arrom 1989, 46, 49–51; Bourne 1906, 333; Stevens-Arroyo 1988, 

234–38)? 


Another important correspondence between Amazonian and Caribbean 

expressions of arboreal symbolism concerns mortuary associations. The 

Kuikuru carve the memorial post to a dead chief from the uengifi tree, which 

is believed to be occupied by the chief spirit of the forest (Carneiro 1978, 

214–15). Similarly, among the Irurí during the seventeenth century, the principal 

men, their wives and children were buried in great hollow tree trunks 

(Porro 1994, 88). Among the Warao of coastal Venezuela, trees are conceived 

as mythically important anthropomorphic spirits, and canoes made from their 

trunks can be used as coffins (Wilbert 1975, 169; 1977, 33, 36, 37, Figure 8). 

There is analogous evidence for the Taíno. Not only were tree trunks recognized 

as zemís, but also some image-zemís carved from them functioned as 

coffins, containing the remains of dead caciques (Arrom 1989, Figure 42; 

Centro de estudios avanzados de Puerto Rico y el Caribe 1987, 54, illustrations; 

Fewkes 1907, 56–57; Kerchache 1994, 130–39; Lovén 1935, 585). In a 

probable burial cave in Jamaica, human bones were associated with a cedarwood 

canoe (Flower 1895, 607). To be buried in a wooden zemí was to be 

symbolically interred within a hollow tree, and thus to be assured of rebirth 

(Peter G. Roe, personal communication, 1994). When not disposed of in this 

way, a Taíno cacique might be buried sitting on his carved wooden duho stool 

(Fewkes 1907, 70; Scott 1985, 7, illustration), quite literally supported by the 

spirit of an ancestor who inhabited the wood. 

Occasionally it is possible to be specific in terms of a particular tree. As Roe 

(personal communication, 1994) has shown, the silk cotton tree (Ceiba pentandra) 

is the principal “spirit tree” of the Amazonian Shipibo. The tallest tree 

in the forest canopy, its upper reaches form a ladder to enable the shaman to 

visit the celestial sphere, and its deep roots help him visit the underworld. 

The Ceiba is also present in the Greater Antilles (Vázquez de Espinosa 

1942, 330), where, for example, modern rural populations in Puerto Rico still 

revere it (Roe, personal communication, 1994). Given their regard for trees, 

it is possible that the Taíno also regarded the Ceiba as a spirit tree, perhaps the 

pre-eminent one – a view expressed by Nicholson (1983, 19). The continued 

spiritual importance of the Ceiba in Afro-Caribbean (especially Jamaica) culture 

as a “god tree” associated with snakes, obeah and ghosts is documented by 

Rashford (1985); it probably descends, at least in part, from the Taíno 

(Cundall 1894c, 65). The choice of Ceiba wood to carve the Jamaican figure 

of Baibrama clearly possesses levels of meaning which are difficult to assess 

solely by recourse to Caribbean ethnohistory. 

The Ceiba has sharp, spiny thorns on its lower trunk (Standley 1920–1926, 

791), and in lowland Amazonia these are analogous to the shaman’s supernatural 

yoto missiles, sent to cause illness or death (Roe, personal communication, 

1994). Similar beliefs about the nature of illness are evident for the Carib 


195


and Taíno (Fewkes 1907, 60–62) and suggest the possibility that for them also 

the Ceiba was a shaman’s spirit tree. More generally for the Taíno, Europeans 

and Afro-Caribbean peoples, there are many beliefs concerning the spiritual 

and medicinal qualities of trees, their bark and leaves (for example, Cundall 

1894c, 55–56; Rashford 1985, 52; Sloane 1725, 134; Vásquez de Espinosa 

1942, 116, 330). The Ceiba itself is said to have emetic, diuretic and antispasmodic 

properties (Standley 1920–1926, 791). Fernández de Oviedo (1959, 

8–9) reports that for the Taíno a decoction of wood from the guayacán tree 

(Guaiacum officinale) was a much-valued cure for syphilis (see also Crosby 

1972, 154–55). Lovén (1935, 540) reports that the Taíno made their zemís 

from wood which they believed to possess strong curative properties – an 

observation supported by Lehmann’s study of an elaborate duho stool from 

Haiti that was carved from guayacán wood (Lehmann 1951, 153n2). 

Having established the spiritual importance of trees, it is appropriate to 

consider wood as a symbolically important material. Objects made of black, 

polished wood were regarded by the Taíno as markers of elite status (Helms 

1986; Wilson 1986, 142–43). Chiefly duhos, canoes (Wilson 1986, 143–44) 

and ritual paraphernalia, such as cohoba sniffing tubes, were associated with 

Taíno caciques and shamans (Helms 1986, 27–29). Apart from the spirituality 

of trees per se, there was evidently also a cultural value placed on the shiny 

qualities of certain wooden artefacts, including their shell and metal inlays 

(see Figure 14.8) (Stevens-Arroyo 1988, 66). The idea that carving and polishing 

wooden objects enabled ancestral spirits or essences dwelling within to 

be revealed or liberated suggests complex and apparently pan-Amerindian 

notions of “sacred brilliance” associated with metals (Lechtman 1993, 269; 

Reichel-Dolmatoff 1988), precious and semi-precious stones (Reichel- 

Dolmatoff 1981) and mirrors (Saunders 1988). 

The symbolism of trees and wooden artefacts featured also in the contacts 

between the Taíno and the Spanish. On first seeing Hispaniola and Jamaica, 

Columbus was amazed at the remarkable abundance and variety of trees 

(Columbus 1969, 155; Vásquez de Espinosa 1942, 118). He saw these forests 

sawn up into planks for caravels or raised as masts for the largest ships in 

Spain (Gerbi 1986, 18). Conversely, the Taíno saw the Spanish, their unfamiliar 

goods and large wooden ships with masts like trees, as turey, things which 

came from the sky, charged with supernatural powers (Chanca 1932, 64; and 

see Helms 1988, 187). 

When Bartolomé Columbus visited the Taíno chiefdom of Xaraguá on 

Hispaniola, he was met by people whose first act was to offer him branches 

and palms (Las Casas 1992). Subsequently, the high-ranking Taíno woman 

Anacaona presented him with prestige items of black polished wood, including 

fourteen beautifully carved duho (D’Anghera 1970, 125). Despite Taíno

eliefs in the spiritual and life-giving qualities of trees, the Spanish subsequently 

hanged Anacaona and burnt Taínos whom they suspended from specially 

constructed timber gibbets (Las Casas 1992, 16, illustration, 22; Walker 

1992, 299, illustration). 

Conclusion 

Wooden zemís, among the most elaborate and distinctive of Taíno artefacts, 

have received little systematic analytical study (but see Helms 1988). Despite 

being amenable to radiocarbon dating, botanical identification, chemical 

analysis, adhering resin and the potential of analogous explanation, many 

remain undated, their material unidentified and their possible semantic “connections” 

with South America unexplored. They have been identified with a 

few major gods, regardless of wood type, age, stylistic variability and geographical/cultural 

location, in an approach that denies the informative role of 

diversity in throwing light on wider conceptual issues – on, for example, the 

significance of wood type and of the presence or absence of polishing and 

form. 

Evidence from lowland South America as well as the Caribbean indicates 

that trees and wood possessed a rich symbolism for indigenous peoples. For 

the Taíno, trees contained spirits, and the zemís carved from them bestowed 

animated shape and elite status. The complex relationship between the physical 

and symbolic landscapes of the Taíno represents a unique opportunity to 

investigate a world view that was fundamentally Amerindian and also distinctively 

Caribbean. 


197


We would like to thank the Jamaica National Heritage Trust; the Department of 

History, University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica; Leonard Clayton (“Chemist”) 

of Aboukir, St Ann; Tony Aarons; the Museum of Mankind, London; and Patrick 

Lewis of the University of the West Indies Herbarium, Mona, Jamaica. We are particularly 

grateful to Peter G. Roe for his insightful comments on an earlier version of 

this chapter. 

Notes 

1. There has been some confusion about the number and location of Taíno 

wooden objects from Jamaica. To the three pieces from Carpenter’s Mountain 

can be added the figure of a bird on the back of a turtle or tortoise, in the 

British Museum ( Joyce 1907, 406, plate L1, figure 2), an anthropomorphic 

seated figure, currently in the Museum of Primitive Art New York (Arrom 

1985, figures 43 and 44), and a duho found by C.B. Lewis at the site of 

Cambridge Hill (Howard 1956, 56). Aarons (1994, 15) reports a wooden 

“doll” figure, 31 cm high, found in a shallow cave in front of the gate at the 

New Seville Great House Estate, which disappeared some fifty years ago. 

Including the three new discoveries, possibly ten wooden Jamaican Taíno 

objects/zemís are known. A small anthropomorphic figure in the British 

Museum (Register no. Am St 332) may also be from Jamaica. Although 

labelled by Arrom (1989, figure 48) as coming from Haiti or Dominican 

Republic, its British Museum record shows no definite provenance, and it is 

stylistically similar to the figure from Carpenter’s Mountain. 

2. After much confusion concerning botanical identification, it is now recognized 

that cohoba was hallucinogenic snuff made from the ground-up seeds of 

Anadenanthera peregrina (Naxon 1993, 178; Wilbert 1987, 17–18), a mimosalike 

tree closely related to A. colubrine, the source of the sacred huilca snuff used 

in western South America (Gollán and Gordillo 1994; Wessén 1967). 

3. The association of avian-image zemís and hallucinogenic cohoba may relate to 

complex Taíno beliefs concerning shamanic flight and spirit trees, for which 

there exist South American parallels. Warao shamans launch supernatural 

attacks accompanied by an effigy of their avian master (Wilbert 1985, 154), 

and the Cubeo possess bird images representing patrons of mourning rituals 

and said to be under the effects of the hallucinogen Banisteriopsis coapi 

(Goldman 1979, 249). 

4. This term is sometimes recognized as the Ceiba, and sometimes as a generic 

term for several tree varieties which had medicinal qualities. 


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R EFERENCES 

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Contributors 

Lesley-Gail Atkinson is Archaeologist, Archaeology Division, Jamaica National 

Heritage Trust, Jamaica. 

Philip Allsworth-Jones is Senior Lecturer, Department of History and 

Archaeology, University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica. 

Anthony Gouldwell is a technician with the Environmental Laboratories, 

School of Archaeology and Ancient History University of Leicester, United 

Kingdom. 

Dorrick Gray is Deputy Technical Director of Archaeology, Archaeology 

Division, Jamaica National Heritage Trust, Jamaica. 

William F. Keegan is Associate Curator of Anthropology and Associate 

Professor of Anthropology, Florida Museum of Natural History, Department of 

Anthropology, University of Florida, United States. 

Gerald C. Lalor is Director General, International Centre for Environmental 

and Nuclear Sciences, University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica. 

George Lechler is Technical Director, Explosive Sales and Services, Jamaica. 

James W. Lee is a geologist and the founder and former president of the 

Archaeological Society of Jamaica, now based in Vancouver, British Columbia, 

Canada. 

Wendy A. Lee is an environmental educator with the St Ann Environment 

Protection Agency, Jamaica. 

Simon F. Mitchell is Lecturer, Department of Geography and Geology, 

University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica. 

Andrea Richards is Assistant Archaeologist, Archaeology Division of the 

Jamaica National Heritage Trust, Jamaica. 

Norma Rodney-Harrack is a potter and Lecturer, Edna Manley College of the 

Visual and Performing Arts, Jamaica. 

Esther Z. Rodrigues is Inventory and Database Officer, Jamaica Bauxite 

Institute, Jamaica. 

214

M. John Roobol, is a consultant geologist, New Saudi Geological Survey, 

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. 

Nicholas J. Saunders is Lecturer, Institute of Archaeology, University College of 

London, United Kingdom. 

Sylvia Scudder is Senior Biologist and Collections Manager, University of 

Florida Museum of Natural History Department of Anthropology, University 

of Florida, United States. 

Mitko Vutchkov is Senior Research Fellow, International Centre on Nuclear 

Sciences, University of the West Indies, Jamaica. 

Selvenious Walters is Senior Archaeologist, Archaeology Division, Jamaica 

National Heritage Trust, Jamaica. 

Jane Webster is Lecturer, School of Archaeology and Ancient History, 

University of Leicester, United Kingdom. 

Kit Wesler is Professor, Murray State University, Kentucky, United States. 

Robyn Woodward is a PhD candidate, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, 

British Columbia, Canada. 

Robert Young is Senior Lecturer, School of Archaeology and Ancient History, 

University of Leicester, United Kingdom. 

C ONTRIBUTORS 

215

The Earliest Inhabitants: The Dynamics of the Jamaican Taino

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